Vatican City (Fides Service) - To mark the 160th anniversary of the Pontifical Society for Holy Childhood or Missionary Childhood, Pope John Paul II sent a message to the General Secretariat for the Missionary Children of the world. We give below our English translation of an analysis of the main themes mentioned by the Holy Father in his message, written by Sr. Maria Teresa Crescini, of the International Secretariat here in Rome.
Children subjects of mission
After recalling children the historical circumstances under which the Church entrusted them with the task of saving children the Holy Father reminds Missionary Children that the programme of Missionary Childhood is based on prayer, sacrifice and acts of brotherly solidarity. "Dear missionary children, I am aware of the generosity and care with which you strive to fulfil this apostolic task. You try in many ways to share the plight of children forced to work prematurely and to relieve the misery of poor children; you feel solidarity with the anxieties and troubles of children caught up in the wars of adults, and who are often victims of war's violence; you pray every day that the gift of the faith, which you have received, may be shared by millions of your little friends who have yet to meet Jesus." (2)
The Church is grateful
The Pope congratulates children for finding ever new ways of helping the Church's evangelising work. At Christmas they go from home to home to tell people that God loves the world: " This lovely custom of Stern Singers started by the Society in German speaking countries, has spread to many other countries" (2)
Missionary activity is universal
The Pope underlines the universal dimension of the Society: "How many children in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Oceania pray and work for this ideal! An International Fund of Solidarity has been established which is increased with offerings coming from every corner of the earth. This fund serves to finance projects, large and small, in aid of children…You must all share in this miracle dear missionary children! Even those who possess nothing can contribute with prayers as well as by offering up the discomfort of their poverty." (3)
Missionary activity is educational
Pope John Paul II is convinced that missionary commitment has an enormous educational value for children because it helps them grow in faith, broaden the horizons of their life and puts then into contact with positive life styles: In the faces of children who are poor and needy you can find the face of Jesus, as did famous missionaries like Francis Xavier, Matteo Ricci, Charles de Foucauld, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and many others in every region of the world." (2)
Mission is a vocation
The Holy Father expresses the wish that bishops, priests, catechists and animators and also the parents and teachers will take Missionary Childhood Society to heart, as it has been since the beginning, because this Society has written glorious pages in the history of the Church: " How can we fail to recall little Teresa of Lisieux who, at the age of seven, on 12 May 1882, joined the Society of Holy Childhood and at the age of 14 had already decided to give herself to Jesus for the salvation of the world? Such spiritual fecundity is not extinct today. Let us pray that an ever greater number of children will put at the service of the Gospel, not only a season of life, but their whole existence. We also ask God that the beneficial activity of Missionary Childhood may spread everywhere." (4)
The Pope entrusts to children the Missionary Rosary
When children join the Pontifical Mission Society Missionary Childhood, they promise to pray a Hail Mary a day for poor children, and the Holy Father asks them to do even more: " I urge you to persevere in this lovely custom with renewed effort during this Year of the Rosary. The older ones could try, at least sometimes, to recite a whole decade, or even a whole Rosary. The missionary Rosary is very evocative: one decade, the white one, for old Europe, that it may find again its former evangelizing impulse which gave rise to so many Churches; a yellow decade for Asia, which is an explosion of life and youth; a green decade for Africa, tried by suffering, but open to the Good News; a red decade for America, promise of new missionary forces; a blue decade for the continent of Oceania, awaiting capillary diffusion of the Gospel.
Dear missionary children, may the Blessed Virgin Mary accompany your efforts! To her I entrust you, together with your families and the Christian communities to which you belong. I bless you all with affection." (5) (Fides Service 16/1/2003)