MESSAGE: ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORK OF THE HOLY CHILDHOOD

VATICAN CITY, JAN 10, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was a message by the Holy Father that is dated January 6, 2003 which marks the 160th anniversary of the Work of the Holy Childhood, currently present in 110 nations.

Addressing missionary children, the Pope says: "You make an effort in so many ways to share the future of children forced to work and to ease the poverty of the disadvantaged; you express your solidarity with the anxieties and dramas of children, involved in the wars of adults, who are themselves the victims of the violence of war; you pray every day that your little friends who do not yet know Jesus may share the gift of faith which you have received."

After recalling the custom of the children of the Work of the Holy Childhood of going from house to house to announce the arrival of Christmas, John Paul II emphasizes that "this commitment to evangelization and solidarity is not limited to a few weeks or to the Christmas season, but applies to our whole life. For this reason," he added, "I encourage you to respond generously to the numerous requests for help which come from poor nations."

The Holy Father then recalls the stories of children who gave up a toy or saved up money to build schools in the area of the mission in order to free their peers who are forced to fight. "There are more than 3,000 projects that missionary children are financing with their contributions."

"Let us pray," he adds, "that there may be more children who put not only a part but all of their life at the disposition of the Gospel. Let us also ask God to spread the charitable activity of the Missionary Childhood everywhere."

At the end of the message, the Pope writes that the children who are part of the Work of the Holy Childhood "take on the commitment of saying one Hail Mary every day" and he urges adults to pray a part of the Rosary. "The missionary Rosary is very beautiful: the white decade is for the old Europe; the yellow decade for Asia; the green decade for Africa, the red decade for America and the blue decade for Oceania."

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