Bureaucracy hindering global aid efforts – Pope Leo XIV raises concern

Pope Leo XIV has expressed concern over the growing bureaucracy and political obstacles slowing humanitarian assistance across the world.

Speaking at the World Food Programme, WFP, headquarters in Rome, Italy, on Monday, June 22, 2026, the pontiff said millions of people facing hunger and hardship are being denied timely support due to administrative bottlenecks and misplaced global priorities.

“Conflicts are fed more readily than people are nourished. This reflects a troubling imbalance in our political and moral priorities,” the Pope said.

On one hand, humanitarian action is increasingly burdened by bureaucratic procedures that can delay assistance.

“On the other hand, access to essential goods, including food, is too often influenced by economic or strategic considerations,” he further said.

“As a result, those who do not generate quantifiable value risk becoming invisible,” he added.

He called on governments and international organizations to remove barriers to aid delivery and strengthen cooperation in tackling hunger, poverty and humanitarian crises worldwide.