More than 800 million children are exploited, says Vatican report

Published: 2006-01-06

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- More than 800 million children around the world are victims of malnutrition, disease, trafficking and other forms of economic and social exploitation, an annual Vatican report said. Among the more worrisome trends are the more than 200 million child laborers between 5 and 14 years of age and the increase in street children on several continents, it said. Millions more children are forced into armed conflict or prostitution. In many countries, births are unregistered, leaving those children open to a lifetime of exploitation, it said. "They are the scandal of our time. For 860 million children of the world, the future is an unknown and the present is a nightmare that lies on the consciences of adults," said the report, issued Jan. 5 by Fides, the Vatican missionary news agency. The annual report, first prepared in 2004, seeks to draw attention to the plight of young people on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, which the church marks as the world missionary day for children.

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