"A child is loved because it’s a child, not because it’s beautiful, and has this or that particular quality – no, because it is a child! Not because he/she shares my views or incarnates my desires. A child is a child." Pope Francis stated this in St. Peter's Square at the General Audience dedicated to children, which follows his reflections on the mother and father figures at the preceding Wednesday audiences.
"The joy of the children–he continued–is to make the hearts of parents beat and to reopen the future. The children are the joy of family and society. They are not problems of reproductive biology, or one of the many ways of self-realization. And they are even less a possession of their parents… No, no. Children are a gift; they are a present: Got it? Children are a gift. Each one is unique and unrepeatable; and, yet, unmistakably tied to its roots. In fact, being a son or a daughter according to God’s plan means carrying in oneself the memory and the hope of a love that has reached its accomplishment by giving life to another, original and new, human being. Now, for parents… every child is different, distinctive. Let me–the Pope said–recall a souvenir of my family. I remember how my mom used to talk about us (we were five): 'I have five children'. And when people asked her: 'Which is your favorite?’ she answered: 'I have five children, like five fingers. If you beat this one, that hurts me; if you beat this other one, it hurts me too. All five are hurt. All are mine, but all are different, like the fingers on my hand.' It’s the same with the family! The children are different, but they’re all children."
Another topic related to children–the Pope added–is "the dimension of more gratuitous love, which never ceases to amaze us. It is the beauty of being loved beforehand: children are loved even before they are born. […] They’re loved even before they have done anything to deserve it, before they can speak or think, even before they are born! Being children is a fundamental condition for knowing the love of God, who is the ultimate source of this authentic miracle. In the soul of every child, as vulnerable as it may be, God puts the seal of this love, which is the basis of his/her personal dignity, a dignity that nothing and no one can destroy."
Speaking about the procreation of children, according to the Pope "it must be responsible, as Blessed Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae teaches. Yet, having more children cannot be automatically considered to be an irresponsible choice. What’s more, not having children is a selfish choice." "How beautiful it is–the Pope concluded–when I walk among you and see fathers and mothers who raise their children to be blessed; it’s almost a divine gesture. Thank you for doing this."
