This Society concentrates its efforts on teaching the Faith to all Children, protecting the rights of children and providing assistance in situations where children are suffering from famine and/or lack of parental affection. It operates worldwide through bishops, clergy, religious, children and laity standing by the weak and afflicted, the homeless, the sick and rejected children so that they may know that they matter in God's eyes. Children of the world are invited to assist particularly in the work of praying and raising funds. Originating from this, a further title of the Society is “Children Helping Children”. Holy Childhood functions on a spiritual level at all times even when at its most practical. An important task is educating and conscientising children so that they become aware of their responsibility to those children who have never heard the Good News of the Gospel nor had the opportunity to be incorporated into the family of the Church in other words, teaching MISSION and what it means.

Bishop Charles Marie de Forbin Janson was born on 3rd November 1785 in France. He was deeply affected by the distress of Chinese children abandoned in the streets and founded the Society on 9th May 1843. He was moved to found a society similar to the Propagation of the Faith but for the children. He founded the Holy Childhood Society with the objective, “CHILDREN HELPING CHILDREN”. Bishop Charles Marie de Forbin Janson

Bishop Charles organized children of France to assist the missions with prayer and money. No longer alone in his dream to evangelize all the children of the world, he realized that he had an army of children with him. The response to Bishop Charles Marie de Forbin Janson was extraordinary. In a few years, this work of helping children spread not only in France, but also all over Europe, then to North America and onwards to Latin America, Asia and Africa. The work found favour with individuals and institutions with great involvement in children's education. In its establishment, the Society enjoyed the full support of the Church. Pope Leo XIII promoted it with the Encyclical Sancta Dei Civitas (3rd December 1880). On 3 May 1922 Pope Pius XI conferred upon it the title “Pontifical”

The plan of Bishop Charles was simple Children Helping Children and the rules were simple a short prayer and a small voluntary sacrifice. To keep it holy, he put the Society under the guidance of the Holy Child, Jesus. Through this Society, children are linked by faith and action throughout the world. The Missionary Childhood addresses itself to children and adolescents in order to awaken their missionary awareness and to support, with explicit catechesis, their openness to charity and Christian solidarity. “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learn and clever and revealing them to little children”. (Lk 10:21). Knowing and experiencing in “Jesus' school”, evidence of a joyful life with Jesus their Brother, children pray for all other children throughout the world and try to help them to know and love him. “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them…. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mk10:14-15)