Pope Leo has urged the world to come together in solidarity and ensure the safety and well-being of child migrants and adolescents.
The Pope made this call in his message for the Sept. 27 celebration of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which the Vatican released Aug. 14.
On 17 June 2026, UNHCR cited data from UNICEF USA stating that “while children represent 29 percent of the global population, they comprise 38 percent of the total 117.8 million forcibly displaced people in the world.”
According to UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, an estimated 45 million children were among those forcibly displaced worldwide by the end of 2025.
Such displacement can stem from persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events that seriously disrupt public order.
“Minors are the most vulnerable group within the global movements of migration. They are concrete faces, who have unique stories, and call on our conscience.
“We cannot remain indifferent, nor can we become accustomed to such suffering,” Pope Leo wrote.
Focusing on the theme, “Even just one of these children,” the pope decried “war, poverty, violence, environmental disasters and other tragedies.”
He lamented the loss of family and friends because of violence, noting that separation often exposes children and adolescents “to extreme and traumatic conditions.”
“To this already appalling situation are added further tragedies: deaths along migration routes, trafficking and exploitation, the recruitment of minors for use in armed conflicts, sexual violence, forced marriages, and the atrocities they have suffered or witnessed during their travels. Their dignity is trampled upon in countless ways,” the pope wrote.
A need for global solidarity to protect children, adolescents
He urged “light of solidarity” amid the darkness experienced by child migrants, while campaigning for “love can overcome indifference.”
The pontiff urged countries to “remove the causes that compel them to flee” while also calling on countries of destination to offer protection and welcome.
Citing Scripture, the Vicar of Christ noted that he is aware of the struggles children and adolescents face in their need for freedom.
Credit: acmro.catholic.org.au.
“The cry of displaced children rises to God today, just as did the cry heard in the Book of Exodus: ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them.”
“God hears their cry and, in order to bring about liberation, he forcefully appeals to the conscience and action of each one of us, just as he did with Moses,” he wrote.
According to him, society must overcome “detachment which reduces the human person to a statistic that does not directly concern us.”
Religious institutions, a “fertile ground for a concrete interreligious dialogue.”
He acknowledged the role of religious institutions as a “fertile ground for a concrete interreligious dialogue.
“Faith communities are called to create spaces in which every boy and every girl is respected and valued in his or her own cultural identity, thereby preventing the risk of radicalization by extremist groups. Ultimately, to protect a child is to safeguard the divine image imprinted within him or her,” the pope wrote.
To civil institutions, the successor of St. Peter urged the “prevention of the trauma caused by separation” to protect the dignity of every child and adolescent.
“An urgent change of perspective is needed: the focus of the debate must shift from the mere management of migration to the full and immediate protection of human rights.”
The first American Pope highlighted the role of Christians in supporting and engaging with the lives of child migrants and adolescents.
Migrant children serve as a call to “transform welcoming from an abstract concept into a stable pastoral practice.
“We cannot simply delegate this task to institutes or associations endowed with a particular charism.
“Before the concrete faces that confront us in daily life, the entire Christian community is called to regard these children as its own sons and daughters, and to engage with the concrete story of each one of them,” he maintained.
Editor’s Note: Featured photo is courtesy of www.msn.com.
