Statement prior to the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in Rome UISG / USG

Publié le : 3 mars 2019

“The abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime : this point is not negotiable”

(Original text in English)

As the meeting on safeguarding and protection of minors begins we, the Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations around the world, unite in support of this initiative of Pope Francis. In our work as religious, we come across many situations where children are abused, neglected, maltreated and unwanted. We see child soldiers ; the trafficking of minors ; the sexual abuse of minors ; the physical and emotional abuse of minors. They cry out to us. As adults, as Christians and as religious we want to work so that their lives are changed and that the situations in which they are brought up are improved. The common theme across all of these issues is vulnerability. Children are the most vulnerable in our societies. Children who are poor, who are disabled or destitute, or who are on the margins, who belong to lower social classes or castes may have a particular vulnerability. They are considered dispensable, to be used and abused.

Read the Statement