pain of marital separations and the birth of children out of wedlock,   
   frequently   
   doomed to a life of 'vagrancy'. Street children and street women are not   
   numbers, or 'packets' to be traded; they are human beings, each with his or her   
   own name and face, each with a God-given identity".   
    "No child chooses to live on the streets. Sadly, even in our modern,   
   globalised   
   world, many children continue to be robbed of their childhood, their rights and   
   their future. Lack of legal protection and adequate structures only aggravates   
   their state of deprivation: they have no real family or access to education or   
   health care. Every child abandoned or forced to live on the streets, at the   
   mercy of criminal organisations, is a cry rising up to God, Who created man and   
   woman in His own image. It is an indictment of a social system which we have   
   criticised for decades, but which we find hard to change in conformity with   
   criteria of justice".   
    He also spoke about the troubling increase in the number of young girls and   
   women forced to earn a living on the street by selling their own bodies,   
   victims   
   of exploitation by criminal organisations and at times by parents and family   
   members. "This is a shameful reality in our societies, which boast of being   
   modern and possessed of high levels of culture and development. Widespread   
   corruption and unrestrained greed are robbing the innocent and the vulnerable   
   of   
   the possibility of a dignified life, abetting the crime of trafficking and   
   other   
   injustices which they have to endure. No one can remain unmoved before the   
   pressing need to safeguard the dignity of women, threatened by cultural and   
   economic factors".   
    He asked, "please: do not be disheartened by the difficulties and the   
   challenges which you encounter in your dedicated work, nourished as it is by   
   your faith in Christ, Who showed, even to death on the cross, the preferential   
   love of God our Father for the weak and the outcast. The Church cannot remain   
   silent, nor can her institutions turn a blind eye to the baneful reality of   
   street children and street women. The Christian community in the various   
   countries needs to be involved at all levels in working to eliminate everything   
   which forces a child or a woman to live on the street or to earn a livelihood   
   on   
   the street. We can never refrain from bringing to all, and especially to the   
   most vulnerable and underprivileged, the goodness and the tenderness of God our   
   merciful Father. Mercy is the supreme act by which God comes to meet us; it is   
   the way which opens our hearts to the hope of an everlasting love".   
    The Holy Father concluded by offering to the participants in the congress   
   "prayerful good wishes for the fruitfulness of your efforts, in your various   
   countries, to offer pastoral and spiritual care, and liberation, to those who   
   are most frail and exploited; I likewise pray for the fruitfulness of your   
   mission to advance and protect their personhood and dignity".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope: no-one can remain oblivious to the atrocities and human rights   
   violations in Syria and Iraq   
    Vatican City, 17 September 2015 (VIS) - "One of the most overwhelming human   
   tragedies of recent decades are the terrible consequences that the conflicts in   
   Syria and Iraq have on civilian populations as well as on cultural heritage.   
   Millions of people are in distressing state of urgent need. They are forced to   
   leave their native lands. Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey today carry the weight of   
   millions of refugees, which they have generously received. Faced with such a   
   situation and conflicts that are expanding and disturbing in an alarming way   
   the   
   internal and regional equilibrium, the international community seems unable to   
   find adequate solutions while the arms dealers continue to achieve their   
   interests".   
    With these words the Pope addressed the participants in the meeting on the   
   humanitarian crisis in Syria and Iraq, organised by the Pontifical Council "Cor   
   Unum", attended by Catholic charitable bodies and the bishops of the region,   
   among others, and to which more than thirty organisations have lent their   
   support.   
    Francis went on to emphasise that "today, unlike in the past, atrocities and   
   unspeakable human rights violations, which characterise these conflicts, are   
   transmitted live by the media. Therefore, they captured the attention of the   
   whole world. No one can pretend not to know! Everyone is aware that this war   
   weighs in an increasingly unbearable way on the shoulders of the poor. We need   
   to find a solution, which is never a violent one, because violence only creates   
   new wounds".   
    In this "ocean of pain", he urged the attendees at the meeting to give special   
   attention to the material and spiritual needs of the weakest and most   
   defenceless: "I think particularly of the families, the elderly, the sick and   
   the children. Children and young people, the hope of the future, are deprived   
   of   
   basic rights: to grow up in the serenity of the family, to be looked after and   
   cared for, to play and study. With the continuation of the conflict, millions   
   of   
   children are deprived of the right to education and, consequently, they see the   
   horizon of their future becoming obscured. Do not miss your commitment in this   
   vital area".   
    "There are many victims of this conflict: I think in all of them and I pray   
   for   
   all. However, I cannot fail to mention the serious harm to the Christian   
   communities in Syria and Iraq, where many brothers and sisters are oppressed   
   because of their faith, driven from their land, kept in prison or even killed.   
   For centuries, the Christian and Muslim communities have lived together in   
   these   
   lands on the basis of mutual respect. Today the very legitimacy of the presence   
   of Christians and other religious minorities is denied in the name of a   
   'violent   
   fundamentalism claiming to be based on religion'. Yet, the Church responds to   
   the many attacks and persecution that she suffers in those countries by bearing   
   witness to Christ with courage, through her humble and fervent presence,   
   sincere   
   dialogue and the generous service in favour of whoever is suffering or in need   
   without any distinction".   
    The Pope remarked that "in Syria and Iraq, evil destroys buildings and   
   infrastructures, but especially the conscience of man. In the name of Jesus,   
   Who   
   came into the world to heal the wounds of humanity, the Church feels called to   
   respond to evil with good by promoting an integral human development of 'each   
   man and of the whole man'. To answer this difficult call, Catholics must   
   strengthen the intra-ecclesial collaboration and the bonds of communion which   
   unite them with other Christian communities, seeking also cooperation with   
   international humanitarian institutions and with all men of good will. I   
   encourage you, therefore, to continue on the path of cooperation and sharing,   
   and working together and in synergy. Please: do not abandon the victims of this   
   crisis, even if the world's attention were to lessen".   
    "I ask that you all bring my message of profound solidarity and closeness to   
   those who are in trial and enduring the tragic consequences of this crisis", he   
   concluded. "In communion with you and with your communities, I pray unceasingly   
   for peace and the end of the torments and injustices in your beloved lands".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)