Pope Francis wants action against modern forms of slavery including
forced labour and prostitution, the Vatican said Monday after a meeting
of experts called by the pontiff to debate the problem.
Dozens of
academics, doctors and clerics were hosted by the Vatican to discuss
issues close to the pope's heart, including the struggle against organ
trafficking and people smuggling.
"Some experts believe human
trafficking will overtake drug and arms trafficking in a decade,
becoming the most lucrative criminal activity in the world," Marcelo
Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, told
reporters.
Sorondo said the pope was heavily invested in a subject
he knows well from his years in Latin America and had even invited two
experts on human trafficking that he knows from Buenos Aires.
Further meetings are planned in 2014 and 2015.
Participants
said one of the worst and most worrying forms of slavery in Latin
America is the use of children and adolescents as drug dealers.
Jose
Maria Simon Castellvi, head of the International Federation of Catholic
Medical Associations, also stressed the importance of "zero tolerance"
against prostitution saying it was linked to drugs, mafia violence and
tax fraud.