RNA - Representatives of all faithes including Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi and Sheikh Basheer Hussain al Najafi as well as Orthodox, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and christian clerics on Tuesday will sign a joint statement for the engagement of religions in the elimination of modern slavery and human trafficking by 2020.
The historic initiative, promoted on behalf of Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby by the organization Global Freedom Network (GFN) on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, will see the signing ceremony of a joint statement in an official ceremony at 11.15 am at the Casina Pio IV, at the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
The religious leaders will thus declare their engagement in eradicating modern slavery and human trafficking by 2020, across the world and forever.
For the first time in history, the leaders of the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox churches, along with Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Muslims, will vow to work together against slavery. In the joint statement, the pontiff and the other religious leaders stress that modern slavery - in terms of human trafficking, forced labor, prostitution, organ trafficking and any relationship which fails to respect the fundamental principle that all men are equal and have a right to freedom and dignity - is a crime against humanity and needs to be recognized as such by all nations.
They declare their common engagement to inspire spiritual and practical action for all faiths and people of good will worldwide to eradicate modern slavery.
Signatories will be: Pope Francis for the Catholic Church: the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, for the Anglican Church; a Hindu representative and two Buddhists, including the top cleric of Malaysia; Chief Rabbi David Roseand another rabbi, Abraham Skorka, an old friend of the pontiff, for Jews; Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, for the Orthodox Church, on behalf of ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who has just met the pontiff in Istanbul; for Muslims, the under-secretary of Al-Azhar, Abdalla Abbas Soliman, on behalf of great Imam Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb, and the great Ayatollahs Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi and Sheikh Basheer Hussain al Najafi (who represents special advisor Sheikh Naziyah Razzaq Jaafar), as well as Argentine Sheikh Omar Aboud, also an old friend of Pope Francis.
Representatives of international organizations including GFN partner Andrew Forrest of the Walk Free Foundation, civil society organizations and companies, will attend the event.
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