The Vatican has pledged to eradicate modern slavery from all of its supply chains following a meeting between Church officials and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorrondo, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and chairman of the board of the Global Freedom Network, an interfaith initiative seeking to eradicate trafficking, told The Tablet this week that the Vatican would be making sure it did not work with firms that use slave labour.
It is understood 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 Global Freedom Network is supported by both Archbishop Welby and the Pope Francis, and featured strongly in the former’s visit to Rome last weekend.
Above: Photo illustration of woman's hands symbolizes how human trafficking affects its victims. Photo: CNS photo/Lisa Johnston, St. Louis Review
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