The Archbishop of Canterbury is to step up his joint effort with the Catholic Church to combat human trafficking when he meets Pope Francis on Monday.
Tomorrow Archbishop Justin Welby is to meet with the Global Freedom Network, a joint initiative of Catholics, Anglicans and Muslims, which seeks to eradicate slavery and trafficking by 2020.
The network, backed by both Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby, aims to carry out a “programme of co-ordinated action” with international organisations and governments in order to combat the problem.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who recently chaired an anti-trafficking conference in the Vatican, will also accompany the archbishop during his visit to Rome that will include a visit to a refugee centre run by the Community of Sant’Egidio.
Pope Francis has spoken out against human trafficking and the topic will be the main item on the agenda when he meets Archbishop Welby.
It will be the pair’s second meeting since they took up their respective roles in March of last year.
The archbishop is due to be accompanied by Revd Nicky Gumbel, vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, home of the Alpha Course. He is an old friend of Mr Gumbel, and has close connections with the central London church.
The Alpha course is an introduction to Christianity that has spread across the world and been adopted by a number of Catholic dioceses, particularly in Europe.
Mr Gumbel was last week one of the speakers at a Pentecost gathering in Salzburg Cathedral attended by 6,000 young people and Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.
Alpha is inspired by the charismatic prayer tradition, a movement that Pope Francis has shown his support for. Earlier this month he became the first Pope to attend a charismatic renewal gathering at Rome’s Olympic Stadium.
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