Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd during the weekly general audience at St Peter's Square in The Vatican on September 23, 2026.© Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images
Pope Leo XIV saved the most forceful words of his weekly general audience for its final minutes. On Wednesday, Sept. 23, before a crowd of several thousand pilgrims filling St. Peter's Square, he urged a worldwide effort to shield children who leave home as migrants or refugees. "I appeal to everyone's sense of responsibility," the pontiff said, according to Reuters.
The timing was deliberate. Four days from now, the Catholic Church holds its annual day for migrants and refugees, and the 2026 edition places children at its center.
The morning's main teaching dealt with a different subject. Leo reflected on how the Second Vatican Council valued human labor and scientific progress in the world, drawing on the constitution Gaudium et Spes, as Vatican News summarized.
Only when he turned to greet Italian-speaking pilgrims did he shift to the plight of displaced minors.
What the Pope Said About Children on the Move
Leo called children and teenagers the most exposed group within migration flows. He described what many face on the journey, from violence and torture to exploitation and experiences that leave deep psychological scars, and he noted that a considerable number never survive the trip.
Related video: Pope Leo calls for greater protection for migrant and refugee children (Cover Media US)Pope Leo calls for greater protection for migrant and refugee children
His conclusion was direct: no one should treat the fate of these young people as someone else's problem, and they deserve constant protection and support.
Because the pope spoke in Italian, the original phrase, as transcribed by the Italian news agency ANSA, was "sofferenze indicibili." The Spanish-language translation could be "penurias indecibles" or "penurias indescriptibles."
The Numbers Behind the Plea
Global data explain the urgency. By the end of 2025, some 117.8 million people had been forced from their homes, and roughly 45 million of them, or 38%, were under 18, according to the UN refugee agency.
That share is out of proportion with the world's demographics. Children represent only 29% of the global population, UNICEF USA pointed out in June.
Europe offers a closer view. Citing UNICEF figures, Vatican News noted that more than 35,300 minors were among the over 155,000 migrants who reached the continent in 2025. Arrivals in the opening stretch of 2026 topped 37,200, and about one in five was a child. Flows have eased since the especially grim peak of 2023, but they remain substantial.
The August Message That Set the Agenda
Wednesday's remarks echoed the message Leo signed on Aug. 11 and the Vatican released three days later. Its theme, Even Just One of These Children, comes from the Gospel of Matthew.
The document names what drives minors to flee: armed conflict, violence, poverty and environmental catastrophes. It warns that their numbers keep climbing every year.
Addressing governments and other institutions, public and private alike, the pope asks that the child's best interests come first. He calls for legal tools that actually protect minors, for policies that bring separated families back together and for measures that spare children the harm of forced separation. He also defends each child's right to life, to schooling and to living conditions that allow healthy growth.
Perhaps the boldest request is a change of focus: less emphasis on administering migration flows and more on guaranteeing human rights immediately and completely. "We cannot remain indifferent, nor can we become accustomed to such suffering," Leo wrote.
A Challenge for Parishes, Not Just Governments
The text does not stop at the state level. Leo tells Catholic communities they cannot simply hand this work to religious orders or Church associations that specialize in it. Instead, every congregation should treat these children as its own.
He asks parishes to move beyond charity handouts toward genuine integration, to guard young migrants against loneliness and rejection, and to encourage friendships between local youth and newcomers. The message also invites different faith communities to build shared protection networks, partly to keep vulnerable adolescents away from extremist recruiters.
From the Canary Islands to St. Peter's Square
Migration has been a steady thread of this pontificate. On June 12, during the final day of his apostolic journey to Spain, Leo met groups working on migrant integration at the Plaza del Cristo in La Laguna, Tenerife, where he blessed a child, ACI Prensa reported. The Canary Islands are one of the main Atlantic gateways for people trying to reach Europe.
What to Expect This Sunday
The World Day of Migrants and Refugees falls, as usual, on the last Sunday of September. In the United States, the Catholic bishops have aligned their National Migration Week, running Sept. 21 through Sept. 27, with the same focus on children.
This is not the first time the Church has dedicated the day to young migrants. In 2017, Pope Francis chose the theme Child Migrants, the Vulnerable and the Voiceless.
Nine years later, his successor is returning to that concern with fresh data and a sharper call to action. The question he left hanging over St. Peter's Square is no longer whether these children deserve protection, but who will step forward to provide it.
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