Pope Francis welcomes operators and children of the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence marking 600 years since their foundation. He speaks of "children's culture", of their surprise towards life. Welcoming "the victims of war, the victims of migration, unaccompanied children, the victims of hunger". "Make today another" home of the innocent "more global, open to adoption".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "There are people who want to adopt children, but there is a mountain of bureaucracy", which prevents them. This is why we need "a culture of adoption so that abandoned children, lonely children, victims of wars" can find welcome.
These are some of the thoughts that Pope Francis expressed today when he met the leaders, operators and children of the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of his foundation. The institution was founded in the fifteenth century by the donation of a rich banker, Francesco Datini, to welcome abandoned children. The original structure is constituted by a Renaissance architecture on which Filippo Brunelleschi also worked. Even today, it supports the protection and promotion of childhood rights, engaging with children and families.
Francis delivered the prepared speech to the president of the institute, and preferred to speak spontaneously, calling for a rebirth of "the culture of children", which is a "culture of surprise in seeing growth, see how they are surprised by life, how they come into contact with life. And we must learn to do the same ”.
Then reflecting on a story shared by the president, where an abandoned child wore one half of a medal, while her mother kept the other half, the Pope commented: "Today in the world there are so many children who in many ways carry half the medal. They are alone. Victims of war, victims of migration, unaccompanied children, victims of hunger. Children with half a medal. And who has the other half? The Mother Church. We have the other half. It is necessary to reflect and make people understand that we are responsible for this other half and today help to build another ‘home for the innocent’, a global home, with the attitude of adoption. So often people want to adopt children, but there is a mountain of bureaucracy - when there is no corruption of the middle, you pay and ... But help me in this: to sow awareness that we have the other half of that child's medal. Many, many families who do not have children and would certainly have the desire to have one through adoption: moving forward, creating a culture of adoption because abandoned children, alone, victims of war and so on are so many; that people learn to look at that half and say, "I have the other half too". I ask you to work on this ”.