 |
| March 2004 |
| Pope calls for greater concern for
children in Lenten message |
Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service |
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II
spoke against violence directed toward children, including sexual
abuse, human trafficking and the use of child soldiers.
In his annual Lenten message, the pope also spoke of “the
tragedy of AIDS and its devastating consequences in Africa,”
especially its effects on children.
“Humanity cannot close its eyes in the face of so appalling
a tragedy,” the pope said in his message.
At a press conference to release the pope’s text, the
Vatican also announced the launch of two initiatives to help
African AIDS orphans.
In his message, Pope John Paul said: “There are young
people who have been profoundly hurt by the violence of adults:
sexual abuse, forced prostitution, involvement in the sale and
use of drugs; children forced to work or enlisted for combat;
young children scarred forever by the breakup of the family;
little ones caught up in the obscene trafficking of organs and
persons.”
“What evil have these children done to merit such suffering?”
the pope asked.
While human reason may not be able to answer the question, the
pope said, “Only faith can make us begin to understand
so profound an abyss of suffering.”
He said children are “an incentive to rediscover the simplicity
and trust which believers must cultivate in imitation of the
Son of God, who shared the lot of the little ones and the poor.”
The pope asked that this Lenten season, which for most Catholics
began Feb. 25 this year, “be a time of ever greater concern
for the needs of children, in our own families and in society
as a whole: for they are the future of humanity.”
He praised “all those committed to caring for underprivileged
children and those who alleviate the suffering of children and
their families.”
At the press conference, the Vatican post office unveiled a
stamp dedicated to children with AIDS; the stamp was issued
at the request of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum,”
the Vatican’s coordinating agency for Catholic charitable
agencies.
Archbishop Paul Cordes, president of the council, said all proceeds
from the sale of the stamp, which will sell for .45 euros, or
about 56 cents, would be donated by Pope John Paul to a new
project aimed at helping AIDS orphans in Kenya.
The Vatican also announced it was setting up a special bank
account for Italian citizens to donate money for the project.
“It’s quite rare for a Vatican stamp to be dedicated
not to something from the Vatican’s cultural or artistic
heritage, but rather dedicated to a theme of social importance,”
Archbishop Cordes said.
The United Nations estimates that in Africa’s sub-Saharan
region more than 26 million people are living with HIV/AIDS
and approximately 3.2 million people were infected by the virus
last year.
The special-issue stamp, which will go on sale in May, pictures
an African child and infant whose eyes seemingly have been scribbled
out by a white marker. Written in large red capital letters
below are the words in Italian, “Children, Victims of
AIDS.”
The stamps could raise up to $620,000 (U.S.).
Archbishop Cordes said these initiatives would not entirely
solve the problem of AIDS orphans, but he said, “It is
a sign that beyond all the words, the church does do work in
the field and works effectively.”
U.S. Jesuit Father Angelo D’Agostino, founder of the Children
of God Relief Institute in Kenya, the beneficiary of the Vatican
initiatives, said his organization currently cares for 93 abandoned
children who are HIV-positive. The institute provides medical
care and schooling in a residential environment.
The institute is expanding into the new project, Nyumbani Village,
a cluster of homes that will care for 1,000 people, including
AIDS orphans and 250 people “from another needy and forgotten
group, the elderly,” Father D’Agostino said.
He said the publicity surrounding the Vatican’s fund-raising
initiatives would help his project by attracting potential new
donors.
The Kenyan government has pledged land for the project, with
construction scheduled to begin in a month.
Archbishop Cordes said the pope’s Lenten message, is a
message of faith and “not a simple appeal for giving.”
“The child is a particularly suitable model for us Christians,”
he said. The theme of the child is not meant to “stir
up a naive sort of sentimentalism, but to reflect our behavior
toward God.”
|
|
|
|
