NINE bishops were expected
to join thousands of other people yesterday in a fast intended to
draw attention to world hunger, in advance of the G8 summit in
Northern Ireland on 17 and 18 June.
The Big IF Fast, organised
by the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign (
News, 25 January), "aims to encourage world leaders to tackle
hunger and save millions of lives," a statement from Church House
said.
The bishops to join the fast
included the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard; the
Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam; and the Bishop of
Sheffield, Dr Stephen Croft.
Bishop Pritchard said on
Monday: "It's just outrageous that the world produces enough food
for everyone, but not everyone has enough food to eat. As a
Christian, I want to stand up for those who are suffering and dying
as a result of hunger and don't have a voice. I hope that my small
act of going hungry for a single day will help bring the plight of
the starving to the attention of our world's leaders."
A rally organised by the IF
campaign will take place tomorrow in Hyde Park. The former
Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams will speak, as well as Bill
Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and others. Before the rally, an
ecumenical service will take place at Westminster Central Hall,
where a video message from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most
Revd Justin Welby, will be played.
On Tuesday, Church of
Ireland leaders extended a welcome to the world leaders, who will
meet for the G8 Summit at Lough Erne resort in Northern Ireland.
Their statement noted that the General Synod of the Church of
Ireland had "expressed a very wholehearted support for the IF
campaign" at its meeting last month (News, 17 May). "It is
an unequivocal good that fewer people should have to go to bed each
night hungry. We would urge the leaders of the G8 to make this
fundamental goal into a reality."
The chief executive of
Tearfund, Matthew Frost, commended the UK Government last month for
joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and
called for a global standard for the industries. The G8 Summit
provided "an ideal opportunity for Canada, Japan, and Russia to
commit to their own transparency legislation. . . Only by working
together will we see this result in life-changing differences for
the poorest communities."
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