Catechism of Pope Francis on child exploitation

Below is the catechesis of Pope Francis in the General Audience on January 8 on children and the “plague of child labor”:

Dear brothers and sisters, dear children, good morning!

I wish to dedicate this and the next catechesis to the childrenand reflect on the plague of child labor. Today we know how to project ourselves towards Mars or towards virtual worlds, but we are tired of seeing in the eyes of a child who has been left on the sidelines and who is exploited and abused. The century that creates artificial intelligence and projects multiplanetary existences does not even take into account the wound of humiliated, exploited, mortally wounded childhood. Let’s think about this.

First of all, we ask ourselves: what message does the Holy Scripture give us about children? It is interesting to note how the word that appears most in the Old Testament, after the divine name Jahwehbe the word ben“son”: almost five thousand times. “Children (ben) are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward;” (Sal 127.3). Children are a gift from God. Unfortunately, this gift is not always treated with respect. The Bible itself leads us along the paths of history where songs of joy resonate, but the cries of the victims also rise.

Herod’s storm of violence also immediately breaks out on the newborn Jesus, who massacres the children of Bethlehem. A dark drama that is repeated in other ways in history. And here, for Jesus and his parents, the nightmare of becoming refugees in a foreign country, as happens to many people and so many children today.

In his public life, Jesus went preaching through the towns together with his disciples. One day some mothers approached him and presented their children to him so that he could bless them; but the disciples rebuke them. Then Jesus, breaking the tradition that considered the child only as a passive object, calls his disciples and says to them: “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; Indeed, the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like them.”

In a similar passage, Jesus calls a child, places him among the disciples and says: “Unless you convert and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3).

Even today, in particular, there are too many children forced to work. But a child who does not smile and dream will not be able to know or let his talents flourish.

Everywhere on earth there are children exploited by an economy that does not respect life; an economy that, in doing so, burns away our greatest reservoir of hope and love.

Dear brothers and sisters, those who recognize themselves as children of God, and especially those who are sent to bring the good news of the Gospel to others, cannot remain indifferent; We cannot accept that little brothers, instead of being loved and protected, are stripped of their childhood, of their dreams, victims of exploitation and marginalization.

Let us ask the Lord to open our minds and hearts to care and tenderness, and that every boy and girl in the world can grow in age, wisdom and grace (Luke 2:52), receiving and giving love.