Hunger is a "serious and complex problem" today "made more dramatic by the increase in the prices of certain staple foods." After yesterday’s Angelus, the Pope joined his voice with that of other Italian Bishops in the day the feast of thanksgiving was being celebrated by the Church. "The Church, while it upholds the fundamental ethical principle of the universal destination of goods, puts it into practice following the example of the Lord Jesus, with various initiatives of sharing," said Benedict XVI praying "for the rural world, especially for the small farmers in developing countries," and encouraging "those who work so that no one may lack healthy and adequate food." Then the Pope recalled the "dramatic news" from North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where "bloody armed confrontations and systematic atrocities have caused and are causing numerous victims among innocent civilians; destruction, pillaging, and violence of every kind have again forced tens of thousands of people to abandon the little that they had to survive." Hence the "particular closeness" of the Pope to the refugees and to the families "deprived of their loved ones" and the new appeal "that all may work to restore peace to that long-tormented land."” “
