Pope Francis announces the World Meeting on Children’s Rights

Pope Francis has announced that on February 3 the World Meeting on Children’s Rights will be held in the Vatican entitled “Let’s love them and protect them”.

In view of this day, the Holy Father has also established the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day.

The Pontiff made this announcement at the end of the General Audience this Wednesday, the day on which the International Day of the Rights of Children and Adolescents is celebrated, established 35 years ago with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Experts and personalities from various countries will participate in this event and it will be, according to the Holy Father, “an opportunity to identify new paths aimed at helping and protecting millions of children who still lack rights, live in precarious conditions, are exploited and abused.” and suffer the dramatic consequences of wars.”

Immediately afterwards, a group of children present in St. Peter’s Square spontaneously approached Pope Francis, who greeted them one by one, giving them an affectionate gesture.

According to the Press Office of the Holy See, these children come from different realities: Catholic schools in Rome, the Indonesian community or peace schools in the Community of Sant’Egidio.

As president of the new Pontifical Committee, the Holy Father has appointed Fr. Enzo Fortunato, until now coordinator of World Children’s Day, whose first edition will be celebrated in the Vatican in September 2026.

For the priest, the Holy Father’s decision “is a sign of testimony and care for the future of the smallest in the world.”