Vatican urges Hindus and Muslims to join hands and help needy children

New Delhi, Nov. 21, 2004 – In an annual message to the Hindu and Muslim communities of India, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter–Religious Dialogue, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, has called for joint efforts to help children who are in need.

On the occasion of the Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, and the Muslim festival of Eid, the Vatican recently urged the two communities to unite and fight together with their Christian brethren to ensure the dignity of children, who are facing "great harm" in the nation and the world over.

The Archbishop, in his statement, said that too many children are forced to engage in heavy work that endangers their physical and psychological development.

Many children, he said, are conscripted or involved in wars and conflicts. "Children have also been the first victims of the increase in sexual abuse and in prostitution over these last years," said the Archbishop.

Conveying his "best wishes" to the Hindus and Muslims of India, he said the family is the place where the children receive their first religious education. "Every child has an inalieanable right to life and, in so far as this is possible, to be welcomed within a natural, stable family." The Vatican said when families break up, it is the children who are the first to suffer. The increase in the use of drugs and in drug trafficking, especially in poor countries, often involves children.

"What have children done to merit such suffering?" Archbishop Fitzgerald asked rhetorically.

"Faced with these evils that affect our children, dear friends, we should unite our efforts, reminding people of the dignity of every human being whose existence is willed by God Himself," he concluded.