Archbishop of Canterbury offers prayers for world's children

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is among the Christians praying for the world's children today.

The World Day of Prayer and Action for Children has the backing of UNICEF, Religions for Peace, and Save the Children.

The day serves as a reminder to adults of the preciousness of children and the need to ensure they grow up in loving and safe environments.

"In every faith community, our children are the treasure that we value beyond price," said the Archbishop.

"A child born into health and safety is a sign of hope in our common life. In children we recognise the preciousness and dignity of the human being as well as a vulnerability which calls for our care and protection."

This year's day of prayer is concentrating on an end to violence against children.

The Archbishop said all forms of violence against children demand action and prayer.

He said he would especially hold child victims of armed conflict in his prayers as he spoke of the children he had met in troubled eastern Congo earlier this year.

One group of young people he met had been taken into the militia as children and forced to commit atrocities but were now free and involved in a peace initiative.

"I met children who had suffered unimaginable horror, attacked, abducted, forced into brutalising ways of life - and yet, amidst the anguish, I also encountered precious flames of hope, where local churches and communities strove to protect and restore the lives of their children," he said.

"Many said to me: 'The church never gave up on us.'"

The church's work among child victims of sexual violence and the determination of communities to keep rebuilding their schools after being destroyed in conflict also left an impression on the Archbishop.

"They said that their children and their children’s future were far too precious not to act, and act again," he said.

"I urge us all, in churches and other faith communities all around the world, to unite in this World Day of Prayer and Action for the protection and flourishing of our children.”