VATICAN - Benedict XVI in the Czech Republic (2) - In the Church of Our Lady Victorious: “Every human being is a child of God and therefore our brother or sister, to be welcomed and respected. May our society grasp this truth!”

Prague (Agenzia Fides) - After the Welcoming Ceremony held at the airport in Prague, that same morning of September 26, the Holy Father Benedict XVI traveled to the Church of Our Lady Victorious, which holds the statue of the “Holy Infant of Prague,” and where he met with several families and their children. After a brief moment of prayer at the Chapel of the Holy Infant, where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, the Pope placed a golden crown on the statue and, after greeting the President of the Czech Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Jan Graubner of Olomouc, he gave a brief address.
“The image of the Child Jesus calls to mind the mystery of the Incarnation, of the all-powerful God who became man and who lived for thirty years in the lowly family of Nazareth,” the Pope said, turning his thought to all the families of the world, “in their joys and difficulties” and to “call upon the Child Jesus for the gift of unity and harmony for all families.” The Pope especially recalled the younger families, “who have to work so hard to offer their children security and a decent future,” and the families in difficulty, “struggling with illness and suffering, for those in crisis, divided or torn apart by strife or infidelity.”
He then said: “The figure of the Child Jesus, the tender infant, brings home to us God’s closeness and his love. We come to understand how precious we are in his eyes, because it is through him that we in our turn have become children of God. Every human being is a child of God and therefore our brother or sister, to be welcomed and respected. May our society grasp this truth! Every human person would then be appreciated not for what he has, but for who he is, since in the face of every human being, without distinction of race or culture, God’s image shines forth.”
Contemplating the Holy Infant of Prague “the beauty of childhood and the fondness that Jesus Christ has always shown for little ones,” Benedict XVI exclaimed: “Yet how many children are neither loved, nor welcomed nor respected! How many of them suffer violence and every kind of exploitation by the unscrupulous! May children always be accorded the respect and attention that are due to them: they are the future and the hope of humanity!”
Lastly, addressing the children present, he invited them to follow the example of the Child Jesus: “be obedient, good and kind. Learn to be, like him, a source of joy to your parents. Be true friends of Jesus, and always turn to him in trust. Pray to him for yourselves, for your parents, relations, teachers and friends, and pray also for me.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 28/9/2009)