We pray for children who are suffering, especially those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war; may they be guaranteed access to education and the opportunity to experience family affection.
- In The Pope Video for November, Francis makes a powerful appeal regarding the extreme conditions in which millions of children live throughout the world.
- Each child has the right to play, to study, and to dream, and the Holy Father asks that we take responsibility and not forget that “they are human beings with names, with a face of their own, with an identity that God has given them”.
- For the Pope, “an abandoned child is our fault”: this is why he insists that they must “be guaranteed access to education and the opportunity to experience family affection.”
Text of the Pope’s message
There are still millions of boys and girls who suffer and live in conditions very similar to slavery.
They aren’t numbers: they are human beings with names, with a face of their own, with an identity that God has given them.
Too often, we forget our responsibility and we close our eyes to the exploitation of these children who don’t have a right to play, to study, to dream. They don’t even enjoy the warmth of a family.
Each marginalized child, abandoned by his or her family, without schooling, without healthcare, is a cry! A cry that rises up to God and shames the system that we adults have built.
An abandoned child is our fault.
We can no longer allow them to feel alone and abandoned —they are entitled to an education and to feel the love of a family so they know that God does not forget them.
Let us pray for children who are suffering, especially for those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war. May they be guaranteed access to education and may they have the opportunity to experience family affection.
Pope Francis – November 2022