Vatican diplomat deplores targeting of schools, hospitals, houses of worship in armed conflict
July 17, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: In a recent statement made during the UN Security Council’s annual discussion of children and armed conflict, a Vatican diplomat deplored the increasing use of lethal weapons against schools, hospitals, and houses of worship.
Msgr. Robert Murphy, chargé d’affaires and Deputy Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said that “in addition to causing severe physical injuries, explosive weapons, landmines and other remnants of war inflict profound psychological and emotional trauma” on children.
“We are witnessing the annual deprivation of thousands of children’s childhood,” he said. “We are allowing them to be robbed of their dignity, which they received as a loving gift from God, and which we have the fundamental duty to preserve and guarantee.”
Msgr. Murphy called for access to humanitarian assistance and for the “cessation of the production, stockpiling, and use of indiscriminate weapons.” The Holy See, he said, “condemns any attempt to obstruct the delivery of supplies including food, water, and medicine to those suffering from the impacts of war, especially children.”
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