Pope says slaughter of children 'cannot leave anyone indifferent'

Published: 2004-09-08

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The slaughter of Russian schoolchildren and the countless examples of the killing and exploitation of children around the world "cannot leave anyone indifferent," Pope John Paul II said. Marking the Sept. 8 feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the pope called on Catholics to stand before her cradle and take seriously "the obligation we all have to safeguard and defend these fragile creatures and to build for them a future of peace." The pope turned his weekly general audience into a prayer service for the more than 320 children and adults killed Sept. 3 at a school in Russia's North Ossetia province and for all children around the world who suffer at the hands of adults. Celebrating Mary's birth, he said, "How can we not think of the many defenseless little ones from Beslan, Ossetia, who were barbarously taken hostage and tragically slaughtered?"

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