GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
The family - 9. The
children (II)
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning,
In this series of Catecheses on the family, today we
are completing our reflection on children, who are the most beautiful gift and
blessing that the Creator has given to man and woman. We have already spoken
about the great gift that children are. Today sadly we must speak about the
“passions” which many of them endure.
From the first moments of their lives, many children
are rejected, abandoned, and robbed of their childhood and future. There are
those who dare to say, as if to justify themselves, that it was a mistake to
bring these children into the world. This is shameful! Let’s not unload our
faults onto the children, please! Children are never a “mistake”. Their hunger
is not a mistake, nor is their poverty, their vulnerability, their abandonment
— so many children abandoned on the streets — and neither is their ignorance or
their helplessness... so many children don’t even know what a school is. If
anything, these should be reasons to love them all the more, with greater
generosity. How can we make such solemn declarations on human rights and the
rights of children, if we then punish children for the errors of adults?
Those who have the task of governing, of educating,
but I would say all adults, we are responsible for children and for doing what
we can to change this situation. I am referring to “the passion” of children.
Every child who is marginalized, abandoned, who lives on the street begging
with every kind of trick, without schooling, without medical care, is a cry
that rises up to God and denounces the system that we adults have set in place.
And unfortunately these children are prey to criminals who exploit them for
shameful trafficking or commerce, or train them for war and violence. But even
in so-called wealthy countries many children live in dramatic situations that
scar them deeply because of crises in the family, educational gaps and at times
inhuman living conditions. In every case, their childhood is violated in body
and soul. But none of these children are forgotten by the Father who is in
heaven! Not one of their tears is lost! Neither is our responsibility lost, the
social responsibility of people, of each one of us, and of countries.
Once Jesus rebuked his disciples because they sent
away the children whose parents brought them to Him to be blessed. It is a
moving Gospel narrative: “Then children were brought to him that he might lay
his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; but Jesus said,
‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the
kingdom of heaven.’ And he laid his hands on them and went away” (Mt 19:13-15).
How beautiful is this trust of the parents and Jesus’ response! How I would
like this passage to become the norm for all children! It is true that by the
grace of God children in grave difficulty are often given extraordinary
parents, ready and willing to make every sacrifice. But these parents should
not be left alone! We should accompany them in their toil, and also offer them
moments of shared joy and lighthearted cheer, so that they are not left with
only routine therapy.
When it comes to children, no matter what, there
should be no utterance of those legal defense-like formulas: “after all, we are
not a charity”, or, “in private, everyone is free to do as he or she wishes”,
or even, “we’re sorry but we can’t do anything”. These words do not count when
it comes to children.
Too often the effects of a life worn down by
precarious and underpaid work, unsustainable hours, bad transport rebound on
the children.... Children also pay the price for immature unions and
irresponsible separations: they are the first victims; they suffer the outcome
of a culture of exaggerated individual rights, and then the children become
more precocious. They often absorb the violence they are not able to “ward off”
and before the very eyes of adults are forced to grow accustomed to
degradation.
Also in our age, as in the past, the Church sets her
motherhood at the service of children and their families. To parents and
children of this world of ours, she bears the blessing of God, motherly
tenderness, a firm reproach and strong condemnation. Children are no laughing
matter!
Think what a society would be like if it decided, once
and for all, to establish this principle: “It’s true, we are not perfect and we
make many mistakes. But when it comes to the children who come into the world,
no sacrifice on the part of adults is too costly or too great, to ensure that
no child believe he or she was a mistake, is worthless or is abandoned to a
life of wounds and to the arrogance of men”. How beautiful a society like this
would be! I say that for such a society, much could be forgiven, innumerable
errors. Truly a great deal.
The Lord judges our life according to what the angels
of children tell him, angels who “always behold the face of the Father who is
in heaven” (cf. Mt 18:10). Let us always ask ourselves: what will the
children’s guardian angels tell God about us?
BEFORE: The family - 9. The children (I)
Special greetings:
I offer an affectionate greeting to all the
English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including
those from England, Ireland, Sweden, Nigeria, Japan, Thailand, Canada and the
United States. May the Risen Lord confirm you in faith and make you witnesses
of his love and mercy to all people. May God bless you!
I send out a special thought to young people, to the
sick and to newlyweds. May the Easter message continue to make the hearts in
our chests burn, like the disciples at Emmaus: dear young people, only the Lord
Jesus can respond completely to your hopes for happiness and for the good of
your life; dear sick people, there is no more beautiful consolation to your
suffering than the certainty of Christ’s Resurrection; and you, dear newlyweds,
live out your marriage in concrete adhesion to Christ and to the teachings of
the Gospel.
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