Pope: “Children’s Rights Trampled Every Day”

Children’s rights are trampled on every day, and Pope Francis, at the opening of the World Summit on Children’s Rights at the Vatican, urges us to say “no” to all those situations in which minors are the primary victims: wars, violence, injustice, and a culture of disposability.

“Even today, the lives of millions of children are marked by poverty, war, deprivation of education, injustice, and exploitation,” the Pope explained. “Children and adolescents from the poorest countries or those separated by tragic conflicts are the ones who suffer the most, forced to go through terrible ordeals. Even the richest world is not immune to injustice. Where, thank God, there is no suffering from war and famine, there are nonetheless challenging suburbs where young children are often victims of vulnerability and challenges that we cannot underestimate. In fact, schools and health services are much more likely to have to deal with children who are already experiencing many difficulties, with anxious or depressed young people, with teenagers who are on the path to aggression or self-harm. Moreover, according to the culture of efficiency, childhood itself, like old age, is a ‘periphery’ of existence.”

In his lengthy speech, Pope Francis spoke of children being denied a “silent cry” because of the injustice of the economic system, the criminality of wars, and the lack of medical care and schooling.

“What we are unfortunately witnessing almost every day lately is unacceptable: children dying under bombs, sacrificed to the idols of power, ideology, and nationalist interests. Nothing is really worth a child’s life. To kill little children is to deny the future. In some cases, minors themselves are forced into fights under the influence of drugs. Even in countries where there is no war, gang violence becomes just as deadly for children and often leaves them orphaned and marginalized.” And the pontiff emphasizes that the infringement of rights does not only happen in extreme situations. “The exaggerated individualism of developed countries is also harmful to the very young. Sometimes they are mistreated or even suppressed by those who are supposed to protect and nurture them; they are victims of their parents’ disputes, social or mental disorders and addictions.”

Finally, a reference to the increasingly important topic of migration: “Many children die as migrants at sea, in the desert, or on the many routes of desperate journeys of hope.”

“Nothing is worth the life of a child.”