ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
"Casina Pio IV ", Lecture Hall of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
[…] I greet each of you participating in this Conference, the second such gathering held here in the Vatican to promote united efforts against human trafficking. I thank Cardinal Nichols and the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for organizing this meeting, and the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences for hosting it. This is a conference – an important conference – but it is also a sign: it is a sign of the Church and a sign of men and women of good will who want to cry out, “Enough!”.
Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity. The very fact of our being here to combine our efforts means that we want our strategies and areas of expertise to be accompanied and reinforced by the mercy of the Gospel, by closeness to the men and women who are victims of this crime.[…]
