EUROPE/ITALY - Poor and abandoned youth “weigh on the conscience of society which wants and has globalised its economy but not its commitment for the development of peoples and the promotion of the dignity of every human person” says Salesian Rector Major Rev. Chavez

Rome (Fides Service) - The precarious conditions of so many children and young people in many parts of the world and Don Bosco’s work in favour of poor, abandoned children, referred to today as ‘young people at risk’, on the margin of society, is the subject of an article by Salesian Rector Major, Rev. Pascual Chavez, in the latest issue of the Salesian periodical ANS MAG, devoted mainly to the tragic living conditions of many children and young people today. “They are many, too many. They are an unheard cry - Rev. Chavez writes to confreres and friends of the Salesian family - . They weigh on the conscience of society which wants and has globalised its economy but not its commitment for the development of peoples and the promotion of the dignity of every human person. I am comforted by the fact that this Lent the Pope has raised his voice and called on the universal Church to attend to these children in need... For us, sons of Don Bosco, this commitment is important for two reasons: first of all because it is intrinsic to the mission, inspired by the Holy Spirit, for which Don Bosco chose us; secondly, it is the Pope’s Lenten call.”
Outlining a world map of marginalisation and abuse of children, Rev. Chavez mentions the plight of street children “who prefer the street as their natural “habitat”, rather than their family situation which was so unbearable”. But one of the saddest phenomena “is paedophilia and so-called sex tourism, both have become shameful businesses. Networks of child pornography on the Internet constantly being discovered, are only the tip of the iceberg of sexual abuse of children and adolescents which threaten to become a far greater problem, the loss of all moral reference.” Although awareness of the rights of minors has increased “the number of children exploited as workers in inhuman conditions has also increased to an inconceivable number.”
How can we forget 50 million children with no identity, no name, home, country, parents, or the trafficking of human organs one of the most shameful abuses of our day? “Faced with the sad vision of the suffering in the world of youth - Rev. Chavez concludes -, we Salesians “are on the side of youth because - like Don Bosco - we have confidence in them, in their willingness to learn, to study, to escape from poverty, to take their future in their own hands … We are on the side of youth because we believe in the value of the human person, we believe a better world is possible, and we believe above all in the great value of educational commitment. Let’s invest in youth! Let’s globalise efforts for education and prepare for the whole world a better future. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 3/3/2004; Righe 31; Parole 464)