We have to face the effects of a dramatic and accelerated population growth, from one billion in 1835, to six billon by the end of this century. Unprecedented rates of growth, affecting specific geographical areas, has augmented the deterioration of the natural environment due to the overexploitation of natural resources and the depletion of fertile soils caused by climate changes and pollution. Together with increased poverty and diminished access to resources, the quest for nationhood has led a dramatic crisis in multi-ethnic states, the breakdown in social relations, and the rise of wars and conflicts which are having devastating effects on the lives and future of the population involved.
Poor countries face severe economic problems.
Unemployment is producing a surplus of angry young people who are frustrated by continued dependency on their families. These are the people who take incredible risks to cross borders to rich nations. Others, irrespective of their religious affiliation, are posing a threat to their own nations by fomenting sectarian and ethnic strife, in the belief that minorities of their compatriots are the root of their economic troubles. There is also the mounting resentment against those who virtually rule the world with all the privileges of rules, but not the responsibilities to their subjects. The scene of a degraded humanity and the loss of human dignity amid the magnificence of this great global civilisation, that is the ultimate product of the work of peasants, artisans, artists, and the scholars from all over the world, call for reflection and action.