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Pope Francis receives Order of Smile

PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk 03.08.2017 12:50
Pope Francis has received the Order of Smile, an international award given by Polish children to adults for their love, care and assistance to youngsters.
Pope Francis (right) during a general audience at the Vatican. Photo: EPA/GIORGIO ONORATIPope Francis (right) during a general audience at the Vatican. Photo: EPA/GIORGIO ONORATI

The award was presented to the pontiff during Wednesday’s general audience in the Vatican by nine-year-old Miłosz and 14-year-old Julia, who went to Italy with Marek Michalak, Poland’s Children’s Rights Spokesman.

Michalak told reporters that the pope was evidently moved and happy.

“He is very sensitive to the wrongs that children suffer from adults and keeps on talking about the dignity of every child, admonishing those who trample it,” Michalak said, adding that he was grateful for the pope’s clear-cut message on children’s rights.

Pope Francis is the second pontiff to receive the Order of Smile, after Pope John Paul II.

The history of the distinction dates back to 1968. Its past recipients include Irena Sendler, a Polish woman who saved over 2,500 Jewish children from the Holocaust, the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa of Calcutta.

(mk/pk)

tags: Pope Francis
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