New York City, N.Y., Oct 11, 2017 / 23:08 pm
Armed conflicts brings out "the most vicious forms of violence against children" and the world must act to aid the young victims of violence and all unaccompanied children worldwide, the Holy See has said at the United Nations.
"Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such violent brutality: children used as soldiers, suicide bombers, sex slaves, and disposable intelligence-gatherers in the most dangerous military operations," Archbishop Bernardito Auza lamented. "The deliberate destruction of their schools and hospitals in total disregard of international humanitarian law has become a strategy of war."
Archbishop Auza, the apostolic nuncio heading the Holy See's permanent observer mission to the United Nations, spoke Oct. 10 to the U.N. General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee, also known as the Third Committee. He spoke regarding the promotion and protection of the rights of children.
The Holy See and the Catholic Church have worked with the U.N. and others to oppose the use of children as combatants and violence against children. They aim to help relieve their suffering and "accompany them on the road to full reintegration with their families and society."