Address to Pope Francis at Santa Marta Conference 2018

Published:

Given to Pope Francis at the Papal Audience during the Santa Marta Conference on 9th February 2018. 

Holy Father, we thank you for this gift of a meeting and for the privilege of greeting you, so as to express our respect and regard for you in your ministry at the helm of the Catholic Church throughout the world. 

Our Santa Marta Group meeting has been a hard look at one of the dark faces of globalisation: the scourge of human trafficking and modern slavery. In contrast, Holy Father, we thank you for the many ways in which you make visible the truly human face of our world. Constantly in your actions and words, you remind us that the well-being of the human person must always be at the centre of every endeavour. You constantly point to the face of our true humanity, a face reflecting the infinite goodness and compassion of God, made visible in Jesus. 

We thank you for your leadership and encouragement in the fight against human trafficking. In these last two days, this meeting of the Santa Marta Group, the fifth we have held, has heard of this work from every continent of the growing cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the resources of the Catholic Church. Achievements are considerable. The challenge is great. In all our efforts we try to keep before our eyes the faces of those who are enslaved, those who are rescued, those who are making the long road of recovery. It is they, our brothers and sisters, whom we wish to serve, as well as striving wholeheartedly to find, stop and prosecute the perpetrators of these evil and brutal crimes. 

Holy Father, we are very conscious of so many who are involved in this world-wide campaign. Yesterday many of those people, present in Rome, gathered for the celebration of Holy Mass in the Basilica of St Peter, including many religious sisters, who are so often on the front-line of this work against modern slavery. We thanked God for their courage and we dedicated our work to the glory of God and to the service of the dignity which God gives to every person. 

We have committed ourselves to deepen our cooperation, to promote truly local awareness and responsibility, to develop not only national partnerships, but also develop them regionally in centres such as Argentina, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. 

We ask you, Holy Father, to continue to call governments to a truly humane response to the victims and survivors of human trafficking in the support and protection they provide; to urge financial and business institutions to do all they can to eliminate slavery and its profits from their transactions; and to encourage all people of good will to become more alert to the presence of slave labour. 

Holy Father, we thank you from the depth of our hearts for the ministry and leadership you give in our world today. We assure you of our wholehearted support and promise you our prayers and prayers for all victims of human trafficking. We ask you to bless our work, our families and each one of us today.