THE Taoiseach has welcomed the Pope's World Day of Peace message which expressed his concern for children who are victims of war, ethnic cleansing and other violence.
Mr Bruton noted that the Pope had drawn particular attention to "the millions of child victims of warfare and to the link between poverty and violence and the inhuman living and working conditions' and callous exploitation of children which they give rise to.
"The Pope's message has a particular relevance for Ireland as a country with a high proportion of young people and one which has suffered from political violence in recent years," said Mr Bruton.
"We fully share the aspirations of His Holiness for a peaceful world in which the rights and dignity of all children are fully respected. Children represent the future and it is essential that they be enabled to fulfil their potential and contribute to the peaceful progress of society."
The Taoiseach noted that "the link between poverty and violence, and their disproportionate impact on women and children is now universally acknowledged". He said the world's governments had committed themselves at the Copenhagen summit to taking measures, both domestically and internationally, "with the aim of alleviating conditions of poverty that blight, in particular, the lives of so many young people.
"In his message, the Pope movingly exhorts all men and women of goodwill to work together to create the conditions where children may grow to maturity, free from violence and abuse. I believe that we have no greater responsibility or more urgent challenge."
In his message, the Pope made particular mention of those children "who often grow to adulthood without ever having experienced peace".
Noting that millions of children had been wounded and killed in recent years in "a veritable slaughter", he said "the special protection accorded to children by international law has been widely disregarded . . . Children have even become targets of snipers, their schools deliberately destroyed, and the hospitals where they are cared for bombed."
The Pope also spoke of children in some countries being forced to work at a very young age being harshly treated, black mailed and exploited bought and sold, and "even worse, forced into prostitution".
He expressed sadness that in wealthy families many children suffer trauma from the fighting between and break tip of their parents and grow tip in " dismal loneliness".