Fighting Against Human Trafficking

US State Department & US Catholic Bishops’ Conference Collaborate

At the annual meeting of the US President’s Interagency Task Force To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons on 8th April 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that “the State Department is planning to work with the Conference of Catholic Bishops in order to map and coordinate the Church’s efforts on a global basis to be able to combat this crime…This partnership, we hope, is going to make it a lot easier for people to be able to share information, share best practices, identify caregivers and advocates, and it will ramp up our capacity around the world to be able to identify victims and get them the help that they need.”  

This commitment was made soon after President Obama and Secretary Kerry returned from a visit with Pope Francis.  Secretary Kerry was struck by Pope Francis words when he said “when any man, woman, or child is enslaved anywhere it’s a threat to peace, justice, and human dignity everywhere.”   Read more…