Pope Francis: ‘Nothing is worth the life of a child’
World leaders met in the Vatican for the World Meeting on Children’s Rights, issuing an appeal for more to be done to implement international conventions and not remain indifferent to the rising number of children without protection. The pontiff announced that he will write a document dedicated to children to “give continuity to this commitment”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis spoke on the first day of the World Meeting on Children’s Rights sponsored by the Holy See sending a strong message denouncing the scourge of denied childhood in the world.
“Thanks to you,” he told those present, “the halls of the Apostolic Palace today have become an open observatory on the reality of childhood throughout the world, a childhood that is unfortunately often wounded, exploited, denied.”
Around a table, together with the pope, sat leaders like Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, the Grand Imam of al Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb, Rabbi David Rosen, Chinese representative Qinghong Wang, former US Vice-President Al Gore, former European Central President Bank Mario Draghi, former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, and Shoah survivors Liliana Segre and Edith Bruck.
Together for a whole day in the Clementine Hall, they reviewed one by one the rights of children: from food, health and education to the care of a family, play and free time.
They also looked at shuddering numbers: 150 million children who are "invisible" because they are deprived of any legal rights (like Rohingya children and undocumented children, the indocumentados, on the border between Mexico and the United States) and 160 million children who are victims of forced labour, trafficking, abuse and exploitation of all kinds, including forced marriages.
They concluded with a declaration in which they state that “It is essential to resist becoming used to the injustices suffered by children and to counter the insensitivity generated by their treatment in the media.”
Participants also spoke out against the alarming number of unprotected children. “Millions of children are displaced, lacking a stable home, victims of trafficking or forced labour while many are not even registered at birth, depriving them of essential rights. In 2025, even with all the technological progress that we seem to have made, there are children still dying from hunger or lack of access to clean water. This is unacceptable,” the declaration read.
More needs to be done. “There are documents and international conventions already in existence but their implementation is still incomplete, leaving millions of children without adequate protection.”
As for the challenge of peace, the declaration includes a call to people to do “as children do, with trust and hope, since only with the help of God will we be able to knock down the walls of hate and transform the world into a home of brothers and sisters.”
In his opening address this morning, Pope Francis said: “What we have tragically seen almost every day in recent times, namely children dying beneath bombs, sacrificed to the idols of power, ideology, and nationalistic interests, is unacceptable. In truth, nothing is worth the life of a child. To kill children is to deny the future.”
What is more, “The pathological individualism of developed countries is also detrimental to children. Sometimes they are mistreated or even put to death by the very people who should be protecting and nurturing them. They fall victim to quarrelling, social or mental distress and parental addictions.”
“Many children die as migrants at sea, in the desert or along the many routes of journeys undertaken out of desperate hope. Countless others succumb to a lack of medical care or various types of exploitation. All these situations are different, but they raise the same question: How is it possible that a child’s life should end like this?”
Francis also looked at the issue with the signs of hope that come with the Holy Year that the Catholic Church is celebrating. For this reason, in closing the session, he announced his intention to write a letter or an apostolic exhortation on this theme to “give continuity to this commitment and promote it throughout the Church.”
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28/06/2016 15:11
22/12/2022 17:36
