By Lindsey Townsend
Revised 8-29-03

"When One Child is Left Behind, the Whole Community Fails"

SEATTLE, WA-"The world of children is a hostile place. And the way we treat children is a measure of our commitment to the Gospel."

Don't let the collar and the gentle manner deceive you. Beneath the flowing black robes of Father Pete Byrne beats the heart of a fiery social and political activist. A Mary Knoll missioner since 1956, he has devoted his life's work to defending the human rights of children worldwide.

Born in Anaconda, Montana, Father Pete earned a B.S. in philosophy from Carroll College in Helena before deciding to become a missionary. "What drove me to Maryknoll was a desire to participate in the mission of Jesus as a man of peace who struggles to help the poor and powerless," he says.

He soon gravitated towards the issue of children's rights as the focal point of his lifelong ministry. Virtually every problem that afflicts children-from deadbeat dads who won't pay child support to child abuse to child labor-is on his radar screen.

"Jesus was pretty clear about the dignity and the value of children when he said that whenever you welcome one of these children, you welcome me. And when you give food to the least of my brothers and sisters, you give it to me," he remarks. "Well, who better fits the category of 'least powerful' than a child? Yet we have not lived out that Gospel very well."

Father Pete has worked closely with the Franciscan sisters to assist homeless boys at Santa Maria Home and homeless girls at Mercy House in Lima, Peru. During the 1990s, he founded "Your Rights-First World-Third World-Mission in the 1990s," a program that helps children understand their rights to live safely and free from physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

He joined forces with the Good Shepherd sisters to assist abandoned women and children with AIDS and to rescue and reorient prostitutes as young as 14. "There's probably nothing more degrading to the dignity and self-esteem of a woman than prostitution," Father Pete says. "These girls are out there working the streets because they have no other options."

Yet poverty, violence and abuse are by no means restricted to citizens living in Third-World countries. "At least 5-8% of children in the U.S. live below the extreme poverty level. 28,000 children die every day from curable diseases that don't have access to clean water, food or basic health care. And a large number of them are those on American soil...There are 40,000 animal shelters in the U.S., and only 15,000 shelters for battered women and children. That's one hell of a bad priority," he says.

Father Pete is now back in the states working to promote a Church response to formally recognize and support children's rights. But the recent child sex abuse scandals among Catholic clergy have made the institutional church hesitant to speak out about children at all.

"This scandal is not something that we can avoid or minimize or deny, but the fact is that it happened with a very small number of priests. The greatest problem has been the silence and the inability of church officials to deal with it openly and honestly," Father Pete maintains. "But we must speak to the issues that involve protecting children's rights --despite the fact that it ticks some people off."

In fact, he encourages fellow clergyman to discuss this difficult subject with their parishioners. "You really can talk to people about these issues with credibility because our parishioners recognize that they are receiving outstanding pastoral services in the huge majority of parishes," he says. "And the fact that there are more than 5000 reported cases of child abuse in the U.S. every day is an issue that the whole community has to deal with--not just the bishops and priests."

Father Pete believes that in order to create a world that is safe for all children, changes must be made on a socio-economic, cultural and moral level. But unfortunately, the welfare of children is not a top priority. The recent government cutbacks in children's educational social services nationwide, for example, frustrate him greatly. "What we're cutting out are the services for the people who don't vote. And a future built on the backs of children will be a future of destruction," he declares.

Another of his hot buttons: child labor. "There are 600,000 children around the world who are victims of child labor. And they're paying the guys who endorse the products more money than all the people who worked in the factory to produce the goods made in an entire year."

What can be done? Lobbying for children's rights across the board, from the grass-roots level all the way up to the White House. "Ask your politicians," he encourages, "what are you doing for abused and neglected children? Children living in poverty and on the streets? Children with no healthcare coverage?"
Father Pete's ambitious vision is one of assistance for all people who work on behalf of the welfare of children, whatever their religion. "There are a lot of wonderful people out there who are working to help children in one aspect or another. And they are all worthy of our emotional, moral and financial support--and the proclaiming of the Gospel in their favor," he says.


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