Pope Leo XIV has suppressed the Pontifical Committee for the World Day of Children, created in November 2024 during the pontificate of his predecessor. The decision has been communicated through a chirograph published in the Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office dated February 13, 2026.
In the document, dated February 12, the Pontiff explains that the measure is adopted following the appropriate consultation and in continuity with the attention that the Church wishes to devote to children, but with the aim of integrating the initiative into the ordinary structure of the Curia.
Transfer of competencies to the Dicastery for Laity
According to the official text, with the entry into force of the chirograph, the Pontifical Committee for the World Day of Children is suppressed, as well as its statute and any regulations or rules adopted to date, which cease to have legal effects both in the canonical and civil order.
Likewise, the president, vice president, and other members of the Committee immediately cease in their positions.
The competencies that until now corresponded to said body pass to the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which will assume responsibility for the organization and coordination of the World Day of Children.
Liquidation and formal closure of the body
The chirograph also establishes that the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life must settle the pending matters of the Committee and present a final liquidation balance to the Secretariat for the Economy, which must approve any decision regarding the destination of any residual assets.
The Pope stipulates that the document have immediate and stable force, notwithstanding any contrary provision, and orders its promulgation through publication in L’Osservatore Romano and its subsequent insertion in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
Internal reorganization without modifying the initiative
In the text, Leo XIV shares the concern already expressed by Pope Francis about the need to pay specific attention to childhood in the life of the Church. However, the suppression of the Committee implies an internal reorganization that centralizes the initiative in the competent Dicastery, avoiding the existence of an autonomous structure.
The World Day of Children, therefore, is not eliminated, but passes to depend directly on the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life within the ordinary organization of the Roman Curia.