Catholic Union Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, writes:
It’s not been a good few weeks for children.
In Jeremy Hunt’s Budget statement earlier this week, children were referred to simply as “barriers to work” as part of his announcement on childcare funding. Listening to the Chancellor speak, it sounded as though children were a burden the state needed to lift rather than a blessing to parents.
Earlier this month, MPs failed to back an amendment to the Public Order Bill which would have clarified that silent prayer near abortion clinics should not be considered an offence. We know that the silent witness provided by people near these clinics has helped many women who wished to continue their pregnancies.
Meanwhile, the Children’s Commissioner for England has expressed “deep concern” about the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill on account of how unaccompanied children will be treated under proposals.
What all of these warning signs point to is a politics that is looking inward at individual needs and concerns rather than outward towards a common good.
As children can’t vote and so often don’t have a voice in public life, they can be overlooked. But they were not overlooked by Jesus, and it’s our job as Catholics to make sure they are not overlooked today.