Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury join forces against slavery

Following the meeting at the Vatican between Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the two have vowed to unite in combating human trafficking. “As disciples sent to heal a wounded world, we stand together, with perseverance and determination, against this grave evil,” the Pope said to the archbishop on Monday.

His remarks came as it emerged that the Holy See is undertaking internal checks to make sure it does not have suppliers who use trafficked labour.

After a meeting on countering trafficking with Archbishop Justin Welby on Sunday, Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, said: “it is something we will look at. But I couldn’t say with any clarity that we are free.”

The cardinal was speaking following a seminar at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences run by the Global Freedom Network, an interfaith initiative to eradicate trafficking, supported by both Archbishop Welby and the Pope.

Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the academy and chairman of the freedom network board, told The Tablet that the Vatican would be making sure it did not work with firms that use slave labour.

In his address to Archbishop Welby, the Pope said while unity between Anglicans and Catholics may seem distant, “it remains the aim which should direct our every step along the way”. Archbishop Welby’s visit to Rome last weekend and Monday included preaching a morning Eucharist at All Saints Anglican Church in Rome and Vespers at San Gregorio al Celio, dedicated to Pope St Gregory the Great who sent St Augustine of Canterbury to evangelise England in AD 597. 

The archbishop was accompanied during his meeting with the Pope by Cardinal Vincent Nichols; Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; and Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer of the Alpha Course. Following the papal audience, the ­archbishop had a meeting and lunch at the Pontifical Council.

At the end of his address, the Pope departed from his official text and spoke to the archbishop in English: “Don’t forget the three Ps: prayer, peace and poverty. Let us walk together.”

In his response, Archbishop Welby said he was grateful for the progress already made in joint attempts to combat trafficking. He also hoped that Catholics and Anglicans could collaborate in challenging the “unspeakable disasters of wars and civil conflict”.

During the archbishop’s visit, it also emerged that a cricket match between St Peter’s Cricket Club in the Vatican and a team from the Church of England on 19 September at Kent County Cricket Club’s ground in Canterbury would be used to raise awareness of trafficking.