Pope Francis’ weekly General Audience today (20 November) fell on International Day for the Rights of Children and Adolescents, which is dedicated to improving children’s welfare worldwide.

During the audience, the Pope announced a summit, the World Meeting on Children’s Rights, to be held at the Vatican on 3 February 2025.

The Pope greeted a group of about 100 children from the Community of Sant’Egidio present in St. Peter’s Square, who rushed to greet him after the announcement of the summit.

“That’s how children are,” he joked. “One starts, and then they all come!”

The summit’s theme is “Love Them and Protect Them,” and it will bring together experts and guests from around the world.

Its mission is to discuss new methods of helping and protecting the “millions of children who still have no rights, living in precarious conditions, exploited and abused, and suffering the dramatic consequences of wars,” said the Pope.

In line with the day dedicated to children and young people, Pope Francis announced the dates of canonisation for two Blesseds in the coming year.

The tech-savvy teen from Assisi, Carlo Acutis, should become the first millennial Saint, during the Jubilee for Adolescents on April 25-27, 2025.

The second new Saint will be Pier Giorgio Frassati, who, 35 years after his beatification, should be canonised during the Jubilee for Young People held on July 28 to August 3, 2025.