Pope Francis had some stern words today for people who call children “mistakes,” calling this “shameful” and saying, “Many children from the beginning are rejected, abandoned, robbed of their childhood and their future. Some [people] dare to say, almost apologetically, that it was a mistake to bring them into the world.”
“Children are never ‘a mistake:’ their hunger is not an error, nor is their poverty, their fragility, their abandonment…none of this is a ‘mistake,’” said Pope Francis during his General Audience today. “If anything, these are reasons to love them more, and more generously.”
“What are we to make of our solemn declarations of human rights and the rights of the child, if we punish children for the errors of adults?” the Pope reprimanded. “All of us adults are responsible for children, and each of us is duty-bound to do what he can in order to guarantee that every child’s basic needs are met and fundamental rights respected.”
“Children pay the price” of “immature and irresponsible unions and separations: they are the first victims,” and are forced to grow up too soon, he said.
Pope Francis encouraged people to follow the Gospel’s example and bring the little ones to Jesus, saying it showed “beautiful” trust and that he wished it was the normal experience of all children.
The Pope recommended that parents, especially those in extraordinary circumstances, be given support and encouragement and condemned people that offer “legal defenses” as excuses like “we are not a charity,” “in private, everyone is free to do what he wants” and “sorry, we can not do anything.” “When it comes to children,” at least, “you should not hear these formulas.”
“Just think of a society that decided, once and for all, to establish this principle,” said Pope Francis. “It is true that we are not perfect and that we make many mistakes. But when it comes to children who are born into this world, no sacrifice by adults will be judged too expensive or too great, in preventing a child from believing he or she is a mistake, worthless and abandoned to the wounds of life and arrogance of some men and women.”
The Lord “will judge our lives by listening to what children’s angels tell Him,” said the Pope citing the passage from the Gospel of Matthew where it says that angels “always behold the face of the Father who is in heaven.”
Pope Francis continued: “The Church puts her maternity at the service of children and their families. She brings God’s blessings, His maternal tenderness, and His firm reproach and strong condemnation to the parents and children of our world. Brothers and sisters, think about it: You cannot mess with children!”
“Every child who begs on the streets, who is denied an education or medical care, is a cry to God, that accuses the system the adults have built,” said the Pope.
In the English language portion of his address, Pope Francis expanded: “Even in wealthy countries, [children] suffer due to family crises and living conditions which are at times inhumane. In every case, their childhood is violated in body and soul.”
“May we always care for our children, not counting the cost, so that they may never believe themselves to be mistakes, but always know their infinite worth,” said Pope Francis.
A new poll shows that a majority of Americans agree with the pope that life begins in the womb and abortion should be illegal.