Pope demands action on inequality

Pope John Paul II today denounced the “imbalance” between the world’s rich and poor and applauded efforts to eliminate hunger, like the recent UN initiative to increase funds for development.

In his last Sunday appearance this season at his summer palace in the hill town of Castel Gandolfo, the 84-year-old pontiff had to stop for breath every few words as he spoke to a few hundred pilgrims and tourists.

John Paul has Parkinson’s disease, making it difficult for him to walk and to pronounce his words.

The pontiff said the Gospel passage about Lazarus, an impoverished beggar who ate the scraps from a rich man’s table, was “ever more appropriate in reference to the problem of the imbalance between the riches and poverty of the world today”.

On Monday, the presidents of Brazil and France encouraged 110 countries to back a new declaration to fight hunger and poverty and to increase funds for development. More than 50 heads of state or government joined in a debate at the United Nations on the impact of globalisation and on ways to finance the war on poverty.

John Paul called the UN meeting important and said it was aimed at “a more united and efficient action against hunger and poverty”. He noted the Vatican’s No. 2 official, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who is the city-state’s secretary of state, participated in the debate and pledged the Holy See’s support for the initiative.

The United States did not join in the pledge to fight hunger and poverty. US officials have said the government objected to proposals for international taxes as undemocratic and impossible to implement.

While the Pope struggled with his brief speech today, he announced he was forging ahead with his gruelling schedule. After again taking up residence at the Vatican on Wednesday, he will lead a long beatification ceremony on October 3 in St Peter’s Square.