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Vatican Media
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - «I wish to dedicate this and the next catechesis to children, and to reflect in particular on the scourge of child labour», said Pope Francis, who interrupts the cycle of catecheses dedicated to the Jubilee, which began shortly before the Christmas holidays, to reflect on the scourge of child labor and abused children who see their childhood stolen by those who should have protected and cared for them.
«Nowadays we want to turn our gaze towards Mars or towards virtual worlds, but we struggle to look in the eyes of a child who has been left at the margins and who is exploited or abused. The century that generates artificial intelligence and plans multiplanetary existences has not yet reckoned with the scourge of humiliated, exploited, mortally wounded childhood», said the Pope, recalling the words of Jesus in the Gospel: «Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these».
Today, too «there are too many children forced to work. But a child who does not smile, a child who does not dream cannot know or nurture his or her talents. In every part of the globe there are children who are exploited by an economy that does not respect life; an economy that, in so doing, consumes our greatest store of hope and love», warned the Bishop of Rome, who concluded: «those who recognize themselves as children of God, cannot remain indifferent; they cannot accept that our little sisters and brothers, instead of being loved and protected, are robbed of their childhood, of their dreams, victims of exploitation and marginalization». (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 8/1/2025)
