Pope encourages Church care for exploited women, street children

September 12, 2012

In a message to an African conference on pastoral care for street children, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that care for “the poorest and most neglected” is at the heart of the Church’s mission.

In his message--which was conveyed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Dar es Salaam—the Pope acknowledged the focus of the conference on the sexual exploitation of young women. He urged that “special attention be paid to the pastoral needs of those women and children who find themselves on the streets, whether as a result of concrete social, economic and political factors, or as victims of organized national and international exploiters.”

 

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Further information:

• Development of Every Person and of the Whole Person Is the Heart of Evangelisation (VIS)
• African bishops weigh care for 'street children,' responses to exploitation (CWN, 9/11)