Washington D.C., Dec 4, 2009 / 15:59 pm
The Catholic Church in the U.S. will celebrate National Migration Week from January 3-9 to focus on the needs of migrant and refugee children.
Pope Benedict XVI has chosen minor migrants and refugees as the theme for the 2010 World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Migration, said that children are an “exceptionally vulnerable population” who are easily exploited and abused.
“This is particularly true when they are undocumented and unaccompanied in a foreign country and, all too often, with nobody to turn to for help,” he said in a USCCB statement.