On September 19, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and Head of Delegation to the General Debate of the 72nd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, gave an intervention during a High Level Leaders Event hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom, entitled “A Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.”

In his statement, Archbishop Gallagher gave a short history of the Holy See’s involvement in the fight against modern slavery and stated that ending forced labor, trafficking in persons and all forms of modern slavery is one of the defining priorities of Pope Francis’ papacy. He highlighted the collaboration of the Catholic Church with the British Government to eradicate this scourge. He mentioned in particular the Santa Marta Group, an international collaboration of bishops and law enforcement officials. He also underlined the work of Catholic institutions and organizations, especially women’s religious orders, in liberating people from situations of bondage. He said that the global nature of the crimes of modern slavery require an equally global response of fraternity, solidarity and collaboration.

His statement can be found here.