The Pope sent a message to the official launch, held today in Geneva. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, sent the message on behalf of the Holy Father, which asked for «hope and dignity for each child,» reported Vatican Radio.
The Pope assured the campaign organizers of his prayers and support for the world appeal, which was launched on the 20th anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The appeal affirms, «Children must be considered fully as human beings, true right-holders, entitled to enjoy human rights in an inalienable way and without discrimination.»
Benedict XVI expressed his hope that the initiative would call attention «to this important [convention] and the urgent need to fully implement it.»
The Pontiff made a particular message of the need to «respect the inviolable dignity of the rights of the child, of the recognition of the fundamental mission of the family in education, and of the necessity of a stable social environment that can favor the psychological, cultural and moral development of each child.»
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