At noon today, in the Consistory Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience a group of people who are participating in the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, focused this year on the theme: Human trafficking - Issues beyond criminalization. The session is being held at the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City from April 17-21.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you, members of the Pontifical Academy for Social Science and participants in this plenary session dedicated to the treatment of persons. I am grateful for the courteous words offered by your President, Mistress Margaret Archer. I cordially greet you all and assure you that I am very grateful for the work this Academy has done to deepen the knowledge of various forms of slavery and to eradicate human trafficking, solely out of a desire to serve humanity, especially those who are marginalized and excluded.
As Christians, you feel compelled by the Lord Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and by the protocol by which we all will be judged at the end of our life, according to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25: Blessed are the poor, blessed are those who suffer, blessed are the meek, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the merciful, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of justice: they will possess the earth, they wil be sons of God, they will see God (cf Mt 5:3-10). Those who are blessed by the Father, their children who will see them are those who are concerned about the end times and who love the smallest, most insignificant among their brothers: What you have done to one of the least of these little ones, your brothers and sisters, you have done to me, says the Lord (cf Mt 25:40).
And today, among these needy brothers of ours, there are those who suffer the tragedy of modern forms of slavery, of forced labour, of slave labour, of prostitution, of the trafficking of organs and of drugs.
Saint Peter Claver, in a historic moment at which slavery was widespread and socially acceptable, unfortunately - and scandalously - even in the Christian world, for it was a big deal, felt compelled by the Lord's words to consecrate himself as a slave of the slaves. Many other saints, like Saint John of Matha, battled against slavery, following the mandate of Paul: no longer as a slave but ... as a dear brother or sister in Christ (cf Philemon 16).
We know that the historic abolition of slavery as a social structure is the direct consequence of the liberating message shared with all the world by Christ through the fullness of grace, truth and love, with his programme of the Beatitudes. The gradual awareness of this message throughout history is the work of the Spirit of Christ and of his gifts given to his saints and to all men and women of good will, not necessarily affiliated with any one religious faith but committed to improving the human condition.
Unfortunately, in a global economic system dominated by profit, new forms of slavery have been developed, in some ways worse and more inhumane than those that existed in the past. Even more today, following the Lord's message of redemption, we are called to denounce them and fight against them. First of all, we must take more notice of this new evil which, in the global world, we would rather hide because it is scandalous and politically incorrect. No one wants to recognize that in their own city, even in their own neighbourhood, in their own region or nation there are new forms of slavery, while we know that this wound affects almost all of the countries. Then we must denounce this terrible scourge in its severity. Already, Pope Benedict XVI bluntly condemned any violation of the equality of the dignity of human beings (cf Speech to the new Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Holy See, November 7, 2011).
For my part, I have declared on many occasions that these new forms of slavery - trafficking of human beings, forced labour, prostitution and the sale of organs - are very serious crimes, a wound in the body of contemporary humanity (Speech to the II International Conference on Combating Human Trafficking, April 10, 2014). All of society is called to grow in this awareness, especially with regard to national and international legislation, in order to assure that in justice, traffickers redeploy their unjust gains for the rehabilitation of their victims. You must seek out the most suitable arrangements for penalizing those who are complicit in this inhumane trade. We are called to improve appreciation for redemption and social inclusion of victims, including updating the current norms for the granting of asylum. You must increase the awareness on the part of civil authorities about the seriousness of this tragedy which constitutes human regression. And many times - too many times! - these new forms of slavery are protected by the institutions that should be defending people from such crimes.
Dear friends, I encourage you to continue your work, through which you contribute to making the world more aware of these challenges. The light of the gospel is a guide for all those who are at the service of the civilization of love, where the Beatitudes have social resonance, where there is true inclusion even of the least fortunate. You must build an earthly city in the light of the Beatitudes, and therefore continue toward heaven in the company of little ones and the less fortunate.
I bless you all, I bless your work and your initiatives. I thank you very much for all that you do and I am close to you in prayer. You too I ask, please do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with members of the
Pontifical Academy for Social Science
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you, members of the Pontifical Academy for Social Science and participants in this plenary session dedicated to the treatment of persons. I am grateful for the courteous words offered by your President, Mistress Margaret Archer. I cordially greet you all and assure you that I am very grateful for the work this Academy has done to deepen the knowledge of various forms of slavery and to eradicate human trafficking, solely out of a desire to serve humanity, especially those who are marginalized and excluded.
As Christians, you feel compelled by the Lord Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and by the protocol by which we all will be judged at the end of our life, according to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25: Blessed are the poor, blessed are those who suffer, blessed are the meek, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the merciful, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of justice: they will possess the earth, they wil be sons of God, they will see God (cf Mt 5:3-10). Those who are blessed by the Father, their children who will see them are those who are concerned about the end times and who love the smallest, most insignificant among their brothers: What you have done to one of the least of these little ones, your brothers and sisters, you have done to me, says the Lord (cf Mt 25:40).
And today, among these needy brothers of ours, there are those who suffer the tragedy of modern forms of slavery, of forced labour, of slave labour, of prostitution, of the trafficking of organs and of drugs.
Saint Peter Claver, in a historic moment at which slavery was widespread and socially acceptable, unfortunately - and scandalously - even in the Christian world, for it was a big deal, felt compelled by the Lord's words to consecrate himself as a slave of the slaves. Many other saints, like Saint John of Matha, battled against slavery, following the mandate of Paul: no longer as a slave but ... as a dear brother or sister in Christ (cf Philemon 16).
We know that the historic abolition of slavery as a social structure is the direct consequence of the liberating message shared with all the world by Christ through the fullness of grace, truth and love, with his programme of the Beatitudes. The gradual awareness of this message throughout history is the work of the Spirit of Christ and of his gifts given to his saints and to all men and women of good will, not necessarily affiliated with any one religious faith but committed to improving the human condition.
Unfortunately, in a global economic system dominated by profit, new forms of slavery have been developed, in some ways worse and more inhumane than those that existed in the past. Even more today, following the Lord's message of redemption, we are called to denounce them and fight against them. First of all, we must take more notice of this new evil which, in the global world, we would rather hide because it is scandalous and politically incorrect. No one wants to recognize that in their own city, even in their own neighbourhood, in their own region or nation there are new forms of slavery, while we know that this wound affects almost all of the countries. Then we must denounce this terrible scourge in its severity. Already, Pope Benedict XVI bluntly condemned any violation of the equality of the dignity of human beings (cf Speech to the new Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Holy See, November 7, 2011).
For my part, I have declared on many occasions that these new forms of slavery - trafficking of human beings, forced labour, prostitution and the sale of organs - are very serious crimes, a wound in the body of contemporary humanity (Speech to the II International Conference on Combating Human Trafficking, April 10, 2014). All of society is called to grow in this awareness, especially with regard to national and international legislation, in order to assure that in justice, traffickers redeploy their unjust gains for the rehabilitation of their victims. You must seek out the most suitable arrangements for penalizing those who are complicit in this inhumane trade. We are called to improve appreciation for redemption and social inclusion of victims, including updating the current norms for the granting of asylum. You must increase the awareness on the part of civil authorities about the seriousness of this tragedy which constitutes human regression. And many times - too many times! - these new forms of slavery are protected by the institutions that should be defending people from such crimes.
Dear friends, I encourage you to continue your work, through which you contribute to making the world more aware of these challenges. The light of the gospel is a guide for all those who are at the service of the civilization of love, where the Beatitudes have social resonance, where there is true inclusion even of the least fortunate. You must build an earthly city in the light of the Beatitudes, and therefore continue toward heaven in the company of little ones and the less fortunate.
I bless you all, I bless your work and your initiatives. I thank you very much for all that you do and I am close to you in prayer. You too I ask, please do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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