The pope’s appeal followed a reflection on how human progress finds full truth and freedom in an encounter with God.

Pope Leo XIV appealed on Wednesday to “everyone’s sense of responsibility” to protect migrant and refugee minors, stressing that children and teenagers are the most vulnerable and often endure “unspeakable suffering.”

“Children and teenagers are the most vulnerable,” he said at the end of his weekly general audience, recalling that the World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Following his catechesis in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff noted that many minors endure “unspeakable suffering: violence, torture, exploitation, traumatic conditions, and it is not uncommon for them to lose their lives along migration routes.”

In light of this reality, he called for ensuring the protection and support of young migrants.

“I appeal to everyone’s sense of responsibility: Let us all feel a sense of involvement in the lives of these young people, who must always be protected and supported,” Leo XIV urged.

The Church celebrates the World Day of Migrants and Refugees each year to raise awareness about the situation of displaced persons and to promote initiatives of welcome, integration, and accompaniment, with particular attention to those in the most vulnerable circumstances.

In his message for this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, titled “Even Just One of These Children,” Pope Leo XIV insisted that “public and private institutions are obliged to place the protection and dignity of every migrant child and adolescent at the center” of their efforts.

Progress is not opposed to Christian faith

In his catechesis, the pope challenged the “prejudice” that portrays scientific and technological progress as being opposed to the Christian faith and warned of the “tragedy of atheistic humanism” described by French Jesuit Cardinal Henri de Lubac.

“In post-Christian humanisms, the human being and God are mistakenly presented as rivals: In order to assert his knowledge, his freedom, and his progress, man would have to emancipate himself from God. Ultimately, however, by denying the relationship with God, one also loses the possibility of affirming the transcendent value of the human person,” the pontiff said in St. Peter’s Square.

According to Leo, this interpretation “has brought about a change in the way contemporary man views the world, compared with previous ages,” opening the door to a “prejudice” that prevails especially in that part of Western culture that has lost its reference to Christian revelation.

As part of his reflections on the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes, the Holy Father invited the faithful to ask: “What is the value of human activity in the world, and therefore of technical, social, and scientific progress?”

“Created in the image and likeness of God, the human being is the agent of progress. With freedom and intelligence, he increases his knowledge, thereby advancing society as a whole,” he explained.

Pope Leo XIV also said: “Humanity — and with it work, progress, and the autonomy of created realities — is not absorbed or nullified by the encounter with God but rather taken up in its entirety, continuing to be, in Christ, free and active: Indeed, it is in him that it finds full truth and freedom.”

Addressing the pilgrims gathered in the square, the pope said: “Christians, like everyone else, are involved in building the city of man, striving towards the end of all things and the encounter with God, and reminding those with whom they share the adventure of progress, science, and life of this ultimate purpose.”

He added, however, that earthly progress must be clearly distinguished from the development of Christ’s kingdom.

“Finally, let us recall that in order to become authentic human progress — that is, progress for the whole person and for all people — technical and scientific progress must be inspired and guided by charity. Only in this way can it always be placed in the service of human dignity and promote the living conditions of all, especially the most disadvantaged,” the pope concluded.

This story was first published in two parts by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.