(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a Message to the organizers and participants in the Festival of the Family taking place on the shore of Lake Garda in north-central Italy on Friday. “The future of humanity depends upon the family,” writes the Holy Father in his Message, “and it is therefore necessary to allow [the…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a Message to the organizers and participants in the Festival of the Family taking place on the shore of Lake Garda in north-central Italy on Friday. “The future of humanity depends upon the family,” writes the Holy Father in his Message, “and it is therefore necessary to allow [the family] to play its role,” in society.
The theme of the gathering is: the ecosystem of life and work . “It is not enough to reiterate the importance of the family and to affirm its rights,” continues Pope Francis’ Message, “it is necessary to consider how the tasks of the family and of society can be structured in real terms, especially with regard to the relationship between professional life and family life.”
The Message goes on to treat of public policy in relation to families, the social and legal status of the family in general, the assistance that should be offered to those who are materially or morally disadvantaged, and the attention that should be given to women in the workplace. “We must ensure that women are not, for economic reasons, compelled to undertake too heavy a burden or accept excessive working hours, which are then added to all their responsibilities in housekeeping and raising children,” explains the Holy Father. “Above all,” he writes, “it is necessary to recognise that women’s work, at all levels of family life, also constitutes an unparalleled contribution to the family and the future of society.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) An invitation to hold their next meeting in Iran, a commitment to pursuing interfaith dialogue and to opening up hearts and minds to the “other” in the family, school and society. Those were some of the results of the Third Catholic-Muslim Summit organized December 2-4 by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The…
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(Vatican Radio) An invitation to hold their next meeting in Iran, a commitment to pursuing interfaith dialogue and to opening up hearts and minds to the “other” in the family, school and society. Those were some of the results of the Third Catholic-Muslim Summit organized December 2-4 by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message to police chiefs and Church representatives from across the world gathered in London this week for a Conference aimed at developing strategies to combat human trafficking. The guiding principle of the so-called Santa Marta Group, which first met in the Pope’s residence here in the Vatican last April, is always to keep the welfare of trafficked victims at the heart of all law enforcement.
The conference, which takes place in London on December 5th and 6th is organised by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales together with the Metropolitan Police Service and the British Home Office. In his message to participants, the Pope says their efforts to combat trafficking and care for survivors “are especially important because of the hidden nature of this crime. We must never forget, nor may we ignore, the suffering of so many men, women and children whose human dignity is violated through this exploitation”.
The London conference comes just 3 days after an unprecedented gathering of faith leaders and other experts with Pope Francis here in the Vatican to sign a joint declaration against modern slavery. Among the participants in that encounter was Gary Haugen, founder and president of the Washington based International Justice Mission working to stop slavery, trafficking and other forms of violence and abuse. He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the vital role faith leaders play in the struggle to bring an end to this scourge which the Pope described as ‘an absurd evil’ and ‘a crime against humanity’…
Listen:
Haugen says the International Justice Mission was founded to protect the poor from the everyday violence of forced labour, sexual abuse, police abuse and land theft. He says the organisation works to rescue individual victims and provide longerm restoration programmes, but also to bring criminals to justice and train local law enforcement officials about protection from exploitation….
Commenting on the Vatican meeting, Haugen says those religious leaders have tremendous influence across the world and they’re making clear that slavery is still a problem today…..the new Global Slavery Index, he notes, puts the figure at over 35 million people in slavery today and the leaders are saying that the moral imperative from our faith traditions is to make sure we don’t allow it to continue…
Talking about the practical consequences of the joint declaration, Haugen says the most important thing is to make sure that laws against trafficking are being enforced……he says it’s the role of believers, especially in the Christian tradition, of giving voice to the weakest and most vulnerable…
(from Vatican Radio)…