Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other faith leaders this morning signed an historic declaration aimed at tackling human trafficking and modern slavery.
Francis, who spoke first at the meeting in the Vatican, told religious heads including Archbishop Welby, Argentine Rabbi Dr Abraham Skorka and Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi that everyone was born with dignity and freedom, and anything that injured that was an “abhorrent crime against humanity”.
His comments were echoed by Archbishop Welby, who said that the suffering of those humiliated, abused and enslaved was “unimaginable”.
“The evils we seek to combat will not yield without struggle,” he said.
The Anglican Communion had given high priority to that task, he added, and would aim to combat it through education, by making ethical decisions as consumers.
He pledged the Church’s support for victims of slavery, and said that the Church would work with businesses “to ensure robust systems for slave-free supply chains”.
The Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders Against Modern Slavery was organised by the Global Freedom Network, an anti-trafficking alliance founded by Catholics and Anglicans in March. The declaration asserted that each human being is a free person and that modern slavery fails to respect that God-given dignity. Its signatories pledge “to do all in our power” to work for freedom for all those enslaved.
Earlier today Vatican communications advisor Greg Burke revealed the memorandum from Pope Francis to Argentine Cardinal Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, sent at the beginning of his pontificate, that initiated the Vatican’s drive to tackle slavery.
“Marcelo, I think it would be good to examine human trafficking and modern slavery,” Francis wrote in Spanish. "Organ trafficking could be examined in connection with human trafficking. Many thanks, Francis.”
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