Vatican City, 2 December 2014 (VIS) –
For the first time in history, the leaders of the world's major
religions gathered together in the Vatican this morning with the aim
of eliminating modern slavery. Today, International Day for the
Abolition of Slavery, a ceremony was held in the seat of the
Pontifical Academy for Sciences in the Vatican's Casina Pio IV for
the signing of the Declaration of Religious Leaders against Slavery.
This solemn act follows the agreement signed of 17 March in the
Vatican, established by the Global Freedom Network to eradicate, by
2020, modern forms of slavery and human trafficking. The Declaration
was signed by Pope Francis, along with eminent Orthodox, Anglican,
Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu representatives.
The following is the full text of Pope
Francis' address, which he began by thanking all religious leaders
for their commitment to assisting survivors of human trafficking, and
all those present for their active participation in this act of
fraternity, “especially for our brothers and sisters who suffer
most”.
“Inspired by our confessions of
faith, we are gathered here today for an historical initiative and to
take concrete action: to declare that we will work together to
eradicate the terrible scourge of modern slavery in all its forms.
The physical, economic, sexual and psychological exploitation of men,
women and children that is currently inflicted on tens of millions of
people constitutes a form of dehumanisation and humiliation.
“Every human being, man women, boy
and girl, is made in God's image. God is the love and freedom that is
given in interpersonal relationships, and every human being is a free
person destined to live for the good of others in equality and
fraternity. Every person, and all people, are equal and must be
accorded the same freedom and the same dignity. Any discriminatory
relationship that does not respect the fundamental conviction that
others are equal is a crime, and frequently an aberrant crime.
“Therefore, we declare on each and
every one of our creeds that modern slavery, in terms of human
trafficking, forced labour and prostitution, and organ trafficking,
is a crime against humanity. Its victims are from all walks of life,
but are most frequently among the poorest and most vulnerable of our
brothers and sisters. On behalf of all of them, our communities of
faith are called to reject, without exception, any systematic
deprivation of individual freedom for the purposes of personal or
commercial exploitation; in their name, we make this declaration.
“In spite of the great efforts of
many, modern slavery continues to be an atrocious scourge present on
a large scale throughout the world, also as tourism; this crime is
frequently concealed in apparently accepted customs but the reality
is that it claims victims in prostitution, human trafficking, forced
labour, slave labour, mutilation, the sale of organs, drug abuse, and
child labour. It is hidden behind closed doors, in certain homes, in
the streets, in cars, in factories, in fields, in fishing boats and
in many other places. And it takes place in both cities and villages,
in the slums of the richest and poorest nations in the world. And the
worst thing is that the situation is unfortunately worsening every
day.
“Let us call to action all persons of
faith and their leaders, Governments, businesses, all men and women
of good will, to lend their unwavering support and to join the
movement against modern slavery, in all its forms.
“Supported by the ideals of our
confessions of faith and our shared human values, we all can and must
raise the standard of spiritual values, our joint efforts, our
liberatory vision, to eradicate slavery from our planet. I pray that
the Lord will grant us the grace to become a neighbour to all
persons, without exception, and to provide active support whenever we
encounter on our way an elderly person abandoned by all; an unjustly
enslaved and mistreated worker; a refugee caught in the snares of
crime; a young person walking the streets of the world, a victim of
the sex trade; a man or a woman tricked into prostitution by people
with no fear of God; a child mutilated for his or her organs, all of
whom call out to our consciences, echoing the voice of the Lord: I
assure you that whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
“Dear friends, thank you for this
meeting, and thank you for this joint effort that involves all of us.
We are all a reflection of the image of God, and we are convinced
that we cannot accept that the image of the living God be subject to
the most aberrant trafficking”.
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