Addressing a UN Security Council discussion of children and armed conflict, a Vatican diplomat said that the Holy See “remains particularly concerned by the continued recruitment, abuse and abduction of children.”
“These grave violations rob children of their childhood, separate them from their families and communities, and expose them to violence and exploitation, resulting in lasting consequences,” Msgr. Marco Formica, interim chargé d’affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on June 25. “Such suffering is a grave affront to the God-given dignity of every child, who deserves protection and care, and can never be considered as mere collateral damage in the prosecution of war.”
Msgr. Formica also said that the Holy See “encourages States that have not yet done so” to endorse the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.