Vatican spokesman highlights duty to protect children
December 06, 2011
Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, spoke on the need to protect children in a weekly commentary broadcast by the Vatican Television Center.
The Vatican spokesman recalled the question asked by relatives at the birth of St. John the Baptist: “What will become of this child?” The same question was on the mind of Pope Benedict when he met with young people in Benin, Father Lombardi said. He observed that in his apostolic exhortation Africae Munus, the Pontiff condemned “the intolerable treatment inflicted on so many children” who suffer from abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment, and human trafficking.
Father Lombardi pointed out that the Catholic Church administers more than 20,000 institutions worldwide that are dedicated to the welfare of children. He added that steps taken recently to protect children from sexual abuse are a welcome and necessary development.
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