Churches in Europe
As President of the Santa Marta Group established in 2014 with encouragement and support of Pope Francis, today Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols was invited to speak at the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas), to meet PM Saulius Skvernelis with the aim of strengthening links with Lithuania, and to encourage their commitment in the struggle against human trade.
Cardinal Nichols explained why the Catholic Church committed itself to put an end to human trade and slavery, in defence of the dignity of every human person, “a dignity to be protected and promoted under any circumstances and at any time; a dignity which does not depend on the skills and the status of a person, but which is fully rooted in the inner depth of the existence of the person, in the gift of human life coming from the Divine Creator”.
“Human trade and slavery – went on the archbishop – deprive the person of this fundamental dignity, reducing it to the status of goods: it is evil asking for God’s action. Today, in the world, there are over 20 million people, victims of modern slavery. It is a matter of deep shame on the face of our human family, which no word alone can remove”.
