[HOME ] [ABOUT] [PHOTOS] [VIDEO] [BLOG] [HOUSTON] [TEXAS] [U.S. NEWS] [WORLD NEWS] [SPORTS] [POP CULTURE] [CONTACT]
Catholics, Anglicans and Muslims sign pact to fight human trafficking
by Joseph Earnest March 18, 2014
Newscast
Media ROME—Representatives of the Catholic, Anglican and Muslim worlds gathered for
the first time ever in the Vatican press office on Monday for the
launch of a Global Freedom Network aimed at eradicating human
trafficking by the end of the decade. Philippa Hitchen went along to
witness this historic event:
The groundbreaking agreement to work closely together across the different faith communities was signed by Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo on behalf of Pope Francis.
The Argentinian bishop is chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences which brought together a broad coalition of anti-trafficking experts for a workshop last November. He was joined by New Zealand Archbishop David Moxon, director of the Anglican Centre here in Rome and representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See.
Also on hand to sign the founding declaration was Dr Mahmoud Azab, representing the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, one of the most important centers of Sunni Islam located in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
By mobilizing the world's major faith communities, this new Network hopes to bring an end by 2020 to what Pope Francis has dared to call a crime against humanity: Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo:
"It's not politically correct to call this modern slavery a crime against humanity but we want to arrive at that in national and international law…."
Statistics show some 30 million men, women and children are currently caught in the clutches of human traffickers and that figure is believed by many to be just the tip of the iceberg. Organizers of this Global Freedom Network are hoping to touch the hearts of all believers to help put an end to this exploitation which they call a shameful affront to our common humanity. Add Comments>>
Source: Vatican Radio
|
|
Join the Newscast Media social networks
for current events and multimedia content.
Copyright© Newscast Media. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Privacy Policy