By Charles Igwe
Vatican City — Pope Francis marked the first World Children’s Day by celebrating Mass with tens of thousands of children in St. Peter’s Square, coinciding with the feast of the Holy Trinity. Under a piercing early summer sun, the vibrant scene saw everyone from nuns to the boys’ choir shading their heads with colorful hats.
The announcement of World Children’s Day was made by the Pope on December 8, 2023, during the midday Angelus. The idea stemmed from a suggestion by a 9-year-old boy shortly before World Youth Day in Lisbon.
Among the special guests at the Mass was Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who, along with her daughter Ginevra, met briefly with the Pope before the Mass.
At the conclusion of the festivities, Pope Francis announced that the next World Children’s Day will be held in September 2026.
Smiling and clearly happy to be surrounded by children, Pope Francis improvised his homily, delivering a brief and memorable lesson on the Holy Trinity.
“Dear boys and girls, we are here to pray together to God,” he began. Then, counting on his fingers and enumerating the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, he asked, “But how many gods are there?” The crowd responded with a resounding “one,” and the Pope praised them before discussing each Person of the Holy Trinity.
Starting with God the Father — “who created us all, who loves us so much” — he asked the children how we pray to Him. They quickly answered with the “Our Father.”
Pope Francis then moved to the second person of the Trinity. The children called out His name — Jesus — as the one who forgives all sins.
When he reached the Holy Spirit, the Pope acknowledged the difficulty in envisioning this Person of the Trinity. “Who is the Holy Spirit? Eh, it is not easy …,” he said.
“Because the Holy Spirit is God, He is within us. We receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism, we receive Him in the Sacraments. The Holy Spirit is the one who accompanies us in life.” He invited the children to repeat this idea several times: “He is the one who accompanies us in life.”
“He is the one who tells us in our hearts the good things we need to do,” the Pope said, encouraging the children to repeat: “He is the one who, when we do something wrong, rebukes us inside.”
The Pope concluded his homily by thanking the children and reminding them that “we also have a mother,” asking them how we pray to her. They responded with “the Hail Mary.” He encouraged them to pray for their parents, grandparents, and sick children.
“There are so many sick children beside me,” he said, pointing to the children in wheelchairs near the altar. “Always pray, and especially pray for peace, for there to be no wars.”
