Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican (Fides Service) - “According to the United Nations report on AIDS, 42 million people in the world are HIV+ and of these 19 million are women and 3.2 are children under 15. In Africa more than 11 million children under 15 are orphans because of AIDS. One quarter of all the initiatives all over the world to assist people with HIV/AIDS are run by Catholic organisations. Each of you, working for Holy Childhood is doing his or her part to alleviate at least partly this terrible situation”. With these words Father Patrick Byrne, SVD, Secretary general of the Pontifical Society for Missionary Childhood opened his report on the activity of the International Secretariat in 2003 to National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies gathered for their annual meetings in Rome.
In the past twelve months Father Byrne made several pastoral visits and meetings: on Mission Sunday 2003 he was invited to preach in Cincinnati Cathedral (USA); he attended a Meeting for Missionary Childhood leaders in the Mediterranean area and Eastern Europe and in November was in Guatemala for the Second American Mission Congress CAM 2, at which 300 children members of Missionary Childhood also took part. In India he attended several events to mark the 160th anniversary of Missionary Childhood. Father Byrne also underlined the warm welcome given to the new Stations of the Cross for Children, produced by the Rome based International Missionary Childhood Office in response to Pope John Paul II’s Lenten message 2004 focussed on children in need. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 13/5/2004 - Righe 17; Parole 238)
