Vatican, 05 February, 2026 / 11:23 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday voiced deep concern at a “lack of progress in protecting children from danger” as he met with the organizing committee of the initiative “From Crisis to Care: Catholic Action for Children.”
Addressing participants gathered to advance proposals stemming from last year’s International Summit on Children’s Rights, convened by Pope Francis, Leo said: “It is indeed a tragedy that the children and youth of our world, the ones Jesus wanted to come to him, are so often deprived of care and access to the basic necessities of life.”
He added that children “frequently have few opportunities for achieving their God-given potential” and warned that the situation “has not improved during the past year.”
“One must question whether global commitments for sustainable development have been cast aside when we see in our global human family that so many children still live in extreme poverty, suffer abuse, and are forcibly displaced, not to mention that they lack proper education and are isolated or separated from their families,” the pope said.
Leo recalled Pope Francis’ teaching in Amoris Laetitia on the child’s “right to receive love from a mother and a father; both are necessary for a child’s integral and harmonious development” and urged continued defense of “the profound vision of life as a gift to be cherished and of the family as its responsible guardian.”
