Vatican: Eliminate all forms of violence against children

Social justice news
April 2007

Who would Jesus deport?
Vatican: Eliminate all forms of violence against children
Catholic communities demand response to Iraqi refugee crisis
Amnesty International demands end to suppression in Zimbabwe
Congress urged to fully fund UN peacekeeping
Take steps now to head off crisis in Central African Republic
Amnesty International calls on U.S. to abandon military commissions
Solomon Islands face huge devastatio n
McCarrick calls for U.S. engagement in Mideast peace process
Zimbabwe bishops ask government to 'repent, heed people's cry'
Outlawing the corporal works of mercy?

Vatican: Eliminate all forms of violence against children
VATICAN CITY, MAR 27, 2007 (VIS) - Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi C.S., Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations at Geneva, spoke on March 23 during the 4th session of the Human Rights Council.

In opening his English-language address, which was published yesterday afternoon, Archbishop Tomasi recalled that "the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child attributes to the child the fundamental rights of a person; it recognizes the child to have the same equality and dignity as any adult person."

"In many cases," he went on, "due to lack of will and of resources, good legal provisions and public policies are not implemented, with grave consequences for children. They often become the first victims of famines and wars."

"To many children the right to life is denied; prenatal selection eliminates both babies suspected of having disabilities and female children simply because of their sex, and thus denies the equal and intrinsic value of disabled persons and of girls for their families and for society."

Archbishop Tomasi then pointed out that "the first right of children is that of being born and educated in a welcoming and secure family environment where their physical, psychological and spiritual growth is guaranteed, their potential is developed and where the awareness of personal dignity becomes the base for relating to others and for confronting the future."

State and society, said the permanent observer, must "concretely support and enable the family to carry out its task. ... The Catholic Church's over 300,000 social, caring and educational institutions work daily to ensure both a peace-oriented and creative education for children, and the development of their talents, and to provide the reintegration of abused and neglected children into their families, if possible, and into society."

"Children are both weakness and hope. To pursue the defence of their rights and the elimination of all forms of violence against them remains an institutional challenge for the international community. Success will be reached if priority is given to the natural role of the family and to the public culture that recognizes that children too are full human persons."

Back to page top