As a laud signal against hunger in the world, the bells of Catholic parishes throughout Austria will ring for five minutes on Friday 25 July at 3 pm. This was decided by the Bishops’ Conference at their last plenary assembly. The event, promoted by Caritas, draws attention to the millions of people who suffer from hunger or die from the consequences of hunger every day, at the hour of Jesus’ death. At the same time, the ringing of the bells “is meant to be a call for action against hunger, as well as for global justice and climate protection”. According to Caritas, “733 million people worldwide suffer from hunger – a significantly higher number than before the coronavirus pandemic. Almost one in three people do not have safe access to food, with the climate crisis being the main cause”. Hunger is a “merciless companion” of war and “always disproportionately affects the poorest, the weakest, children, and the elderly”, said Mgr Franz Lackner, Archbishop of Salzburg and President of the Bishops’ Conference. Although the memory of hunger has almost disappeared in Europe, “even at our latitudes people die of hunger, often in silence”. The sound of the bells should therefore be a spiritual sign of solidarity “with those who suffer today, but also with those who want to help, who do not stand idly by”. More than 300 bells will ring in the Archdiocese of Salzburg alone and in about 3,000 parishes across Austria. The national campaign aims to send a “strong signal against hunger in the world”, Caritas President Nora Tödtling-Musenbichler said in a press release today.