Pope Francis has once again focused his catechesis on children during the general audience of January 15. As reported by Vatican News, Francis has been discussing the issue of child labor, specifically exploitation in the food and textile production sector, while meeting with pilgrims from around the world in the Paul VI Hall. He has stated that "even today, hundreds of millions of minors are compelled to work, and many of them are exposed to particularly hazardous jobs," despite not having reached the minimum age to fulfill the responsibilities of adulthood. He goes on to say that children in Latin America are exploited and enslaved for blueberry harvest. However, the Pope is equally concerned about minors who are "slaves of trafficking for prostitution or pornography, and of forced marriages". "In contemporary communities - Vatican News emphasizes - there are numerous ways in which children are abused and mistreated. Abuse of minors, regardless of its kind, is a terrible and atrocious act. It is more than just a societal plague and a crime; it is a significant breach of God's commands. No child should be abused. Even just one case is too much. Arousing consciences and protecting minors. In the face of all this, it is necessary to "awaken consciences, practice closeness and concrete solidarity with children and young people", exhorts Francis, who calls for "building trust and synergies" among those who are committed to provide minors with "opportunities and safe places in which to grow up serenely". The Pope's analysis is unequivocal: the "greatest price" of "widespread poverty," the "lack of social tools to support families", the "marginality that has increased in recent years along with unemployment", and the "precariousness of work" is currently being paid by the youngest. In the larger cities, where there is a greater "social gap" and "moral degradation," children are employed in a variety of illegal activities, including drug dealing. They are "sometimes tragically induced to become 'executioners' of their peers, as well as to harm themselves, their dignity, and their humanity". Francis expresses his grief for the apathy to "these lost lives" who are encountered "on the street, in the parish area" and recalls Loan, an Argentine youngster who "was kidnapped and no one knows where he is. One of the ideas is that he was dispatched to do organ transplants.