Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI lamented Sunday that hundreds of millions of people around the globe do not have enough to eat, saying it was a scandal which must be combatted by changes in consumption and fairer distribution of resources.
Speaking from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, Benedict noted that the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization recently reported that more than 800 million people are undernourished, and that many people, especially children, die from hunger.
The U.N. agency, in a report late last month, said that 10 years after global leaders had pledged to halve the number of the world's hungry, almost no progress has been made.
Benedict called for efforts to "eliminate the structural causes tied to the system of governing the world's economy, which earmarks most of the planet's resources to a minority of the (Earth's) population." The pontiff described that situation as an "injustice."
"To make an impact on a large scale, it is necessary to convert the model of global development," the pope said. "Not just the scandal of hunger demands it, but also the environmental and energy crises."
The pope said everyone must face the problem.
"Every person and every family can and must do something to alleviate hunger in the world, adopting a style of life and consumption compatible with safeguarding creation," Benedict said.
Benedict urged the faithful to join him in "committing ourselves concretely to defeat the scourge of hunger" and promote justice and solidarity.