German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) received on Tuesday, as the Three Wise Men, 108 children and young people from all 27 Catholic dioceses in Germany, who were dressed in holy attire, at the Chancellery for the traditional Sternsinger action.
The Sternsingers have been bringing their blessing “Christus mansionem benedicat – Christus segne dieses Haus” to the Federal Chancellery every year since 1984 to mark the start of the year. The background is the annual charity collection in the context of the Three Kings’ Singing. This year’s motto is “Raise your voice. Singing for children’s rights”.
In this context, the Sternsingers met with Scholz on Tuesday to advocate for children’s rights worldwide. “Mr. Federal Chancellor, we ask you to always keep a place for children’s rights free” said one of the children addressing the Chancellor, as a symbolic chair was handed over to him: “This chair should remind us that children’s rights must be protected everywhere in the world” said the Sternsingers.
The Chancellor himself praised the motto: “Indeed, we must protect children” he said. “They need our protection and our joint efforts for their rights and the opportunities to live a good life.” It’s about diseases that can affect children and where they need to be protected. “Not everywhere in the world is the healthcare as it is here, and that’s why it’s very important that we work to ensure that children also receive good medical care, everywhere in the world.”
Moreover, children should not be exploited, Scholz said. Also, it’s important that children do not go hungry. “That has improved, but of course, we know that there are still children all over the world who have nothing to eat or too little.” Therefore, it should be the common goal to change this, said the Chancellor.
Since the start of the action in 1959, the organizers of the Three Kings’ Singing report that around 1.36 billion euros have been collected, which have been used to support projects for disadvantaged and needy children in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Oceania, and Eastern Europe.