Thursday, December 29, 2016

EP: 2017 is Year of Protection of the Sacredness of Childhood

(UOJ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew proclaimed 2017 as the Year of Protection of the Sacredness of Childhood and urged all to respect the rights and privacy of children, reports RIA Novosti.

"Unfortunately, the Gospel of Christmas is once again proclaimed to a world where the racket of weapons is heard, where unprovoked violence against individuals and peoples is enacted, and where inequality and social justice prevail. It is unbearable to witness the state of countless children, victims of military conflict, irregular situations, manifold exploitations, persecutions and discriminations, as well as hunger, poverty and painful dispossession.

Last April, we had the opportunity in Lesbos to witness with our own eyes—together with His Holiness Pope Francis of Rome and His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece—the tragic circumstances of refugees and immigrants, and especially the acute problems of the suffering children, innocents and defenseless victims of military violence, as well as the racial and religious discrimination and injustice, all of which are constantly increasing," said Ecumenical Patriarch in his Christmas message.

"We appeal to all of you to respect the identity and sacredness of childhood. In light of the global refugee crisis that especially affects the rights of children; in light of the plague of child mortality, hunger and child labor, child abuse and psychological violence, as well as the dangers of altering children’s souls through their uncontrolled exposure to the influence of contemporary electronic means of communication and their subjection to consumerism, we declare 2017 as the Year of Protection of the Sacredness of Childhood, inviting everyone to recognize and respect the rights and integrity of children," reads the Patriarch’s message.

The Constantinople Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas by Julian calendar on December 25.

3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Yes, what about abortion? Are we to assume that silence speaks louder than words in this glaring omission?

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  2. What about abortion? Well, when you have mixed Orthodox Christianity with Secularism as the EP has, you focus on what you can *see* and try to "fix" it (by your moral authority). Abortion fits very neatly in with the secularist vision in that the humanity of the unborn is not easily seen - and thus it can be safely put aside because what really counts is the profane - what is easily assessed as suffering you can understand and relate to...

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