Pope: Everyone has a duty to protect children
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(Vatican Radio) “It is a duty of everyone to protect children, especially those exposed to elevated risk of exploitation, trafficking, and deviant conduct.”That was the message of Pope Francis for International Missing Children’s Day at his General Audience on Wednesday. Missing Children’s Day was established in the United States by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, four years after the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City. The date of his disappearance, May 25, was chosen for the annual commemoration. Since 1998 Missing Children’s Day has been commemorated internationally.In his appeal at the conclusion of the weekly Audience, Pope Francis expressed his hope that “civil and religious authorities might stir consciences and raise awareness, in order to avoid indifference in the face of children on their own, exploited children, and children far from their families and their social context, children who cannot grow-up peacefully o...
(Vatican Radio) “It is a duty of everyone to protect children, especially those exposed to elevated risk of exploitation, trafficking, and deviant conduct.”
That was the message of Pope Francis for International Missing Children’s Day at his General Audience on Wednesday. Missing Children’s Day was established in the United States by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, four years after the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City. The date of his disappearance, May 25, was chosen for the annual commemoration. Since 1998 Missing Children’s Day has been commemorated internationally.
In his appeal at the conclusion of the weekly Audience, Pope Francis expressed his hope that “civil and religious authorities might stir consciences and raise awareness, in order to avoid indifference in the face of children on their own, exploited children, and children far from their families and their social context, children who cannot grow-up peacefully or look with hope to the future.”
He invited everyone “to prayer that each of them might be restored to the affection of their loved ones.”
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Asian elephant. / Credit: Filiz Elaerts / Unsplash (CC0)CNA Newsroom, Mar 27, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).Despite repeated protests from Catholic bishops, wildlife attacks continue to pose a severe threat to the lives and properties of both Catholics and other residents in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. On Wednesday, local media reported significant damage from two elephants in Kerala's Idukki district, alongside a tiger's attack on livestock. This year alone, elephant attacks have resulted in 27 fatalities in the region. Video footage of a Catholic man trampled to death on Feb. 10 made headlines and sparked protests, only to be followed by news of a potential mauling by a tiger of a Catholic woman on her way to Mass four days after the fatal attack. Further fatal elephant tramplings followed the incident.The Catholic Church in Kerala has been leading the charge in urging the government to take decisive action to protect human lives. "The series of shocking ...
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Catholic faithful offer prayers during an Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Mary's Basilica in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad in India on Feb. 14, 2024. / Credit: NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty ImagesBangalore, India, Mar 27, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).A watchdog group that monitors violence committed against Christians in India has released a study documenting 161 such crimes in the first 75 days of 2024.These numbers may underestimate the number of crimes and acts of persecution committed against Christians in India, according to A.C. Michael, a Catholic and coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), which released the report. "These figures are based only on the complaints registered on our toll-free helpline number (1-800-208-4545) to report incidents of anti-Christian violence. The actual numbers will be certainly much more," Michael told CNA on March 27."We feel frustrated that despite documenting and making public the shocking data regularly, there has been no re...
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On Holy Wednesday, the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land venerated the column to which, according to tradition, Jesus was bound to be scourged. They prayed the station dedicated to the column during the daily procession that the Franciscans perform inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. At the end, they intoned the hymn "Columna Nobilis" and then, one by one, they performed an act of veneration. March 27, 2024. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 27, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).In Jerusalem on Holy Wednesday, the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land venerate the two stones that, according to the Gospel of Luke, were stained with the blood of Jesus during his passion.The first stone is venerated at the Basilica of the Agony, which stands at the place where Jesus withdrew to pray after the Last Supper in an orchard known as Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives.Father Alessandro Coniglio, who presided over the Holy Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of the Agony (G...