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    MESSAGE TO THE ILO: IT IS UNACCEPTABLE THAT SLAVE LABOUR IS COMMON CURRENCY   
    Vatican City, 28 May 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent a message to the   
   director general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for its 103rd   
   Session, to take place in Geneva from 28 May to 12 June 2014, on the theme   
   "Building a future with decent work". During these fifteen days, the workers,   
   representatives of business and governments of the 185 Member States of the   
   ILO will discuss migration, employment policy strategies, ways out of   
   informality and the strengthening of the convention on forced labour.   
    "This Conference has been convened at a crucial moment of social and economic   
   history, one which presents challenges for the entire world", writes the Pope.   
   "Unemployment is tragically expanding the frontiers of poverty. This is   
   particularly disheartening for unemployed young people who can all too easily   
   become demoralised, losing their sense of worth, feeling alienated from   
   society".   
    "Another grave and related issue confronting our world is that of mass   
   migration: the sheer numbers of men and women forced to seek work away from   
   their homelands is a cause for concern. Despite their hopes for a better   
   future, they frequently encounter mistrust and exclusion, to say nothing of   
   experiencing tragedies and disasters. Having made such sacrifices, these men   
   and women often fail to find dignified work and fall victim to a certain   
   'globalisation of indifference'. Their situation exposes them to further   
   dangers such as the horror of human trafficking, forced labour and   
   enslavement. It is unacceptable that, in our world, slave labour has become   
   common coin. This cannot continue! Human trafficking is a scourge, a crime   
   against the whole of humanity. It is time to join forces and work together to   
   free its victims and to eradicate this crime that affects all of us, from   
   individual families to the worldwide community".   
    The Holy Father states that it is "time to reinforce existing forms of   
   cooperation and to establish new avenues for expanding solidarity. This calls   
   for: a renewed insistence on the dignity of every person; a more determined   
   implementation of international labour standards; planning for a focused   
   development on the human person as its central actor and primary beneficiary;   
   a re-evaluation of the responsibilities of international corporations in the   
   countries where they operate, including the areas of profit and investment   
   management; and a concerted effort to encourage governments to facilitate the   
   movement of migrants for the benefit of all, thus eliminating human   
   trafficking and perilous travel conditions. Effective cooperation in these   
   areas will be greatly assisted by defining future sustainable development   
   goals".   
    He concluded by remarking that the social teaching of the Church "supports   
   the initiatives of the ILO which aim to promote the dignity of the human   
   person and the nobility of human labour. I encourage you in your efforts to   
   face the challenges of today's world in fidelity to these lofty goals. At the   
   same time, I invoke God's blessing on all that you do to defend and advance   
   the dignity of work for the common good of our human family".   
      
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    "COR UNUM" IN THE SYRIAN CRISIS   
    Vatican City, 28 May 2014 (VIS) -On Friday 30 May the Pontifical Council "Cor   
   Unum" will hold a meeting between Catholic charitable organisations working in   
   the context of the crisis in Syria. The meeting, which receives the support of   
   25 organisations, will be divided into two phases. In the morning, following   
   the introduction from Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of "Cor Unum", there   
   will be discourses from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin; Archbishop   
   Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio in Syria; and Bishop Antoine Audo, president of   
   Caritas Syria, after which they will present the activities carried out in the   
   information office in Beirut, established last year to collect and distribute   
   data on the work of Catholic bodies. In the afternoon they will focus on   
   concrete aspects of the collaboration between the various actors in Syria and   
   in neighbouring countries.   
    The aim of the meeting is to evaluate the work carried out so far by Catholic   
   charitable organisations in the context of the crisis, highlighting the   
   critical themes that have emerged and identifying future priorities.   
    Syria is at the centre of attention of the international community owing to   
   the prolonged and grave humanitarian crisis resulting from the war. The Holy   
   See, along with its diplomatic activity through the network of nunciatures,   
   relations with local Churches and the work of Catholic charitable agencies,   
   actively participates in aid and humanitarian assistance programmes. According   
   to available data, the crisis has so far claimed around 160,000 victims, has   
   driven more than two million refugees across its borders, mostly into   
   countries in the Middle East and Mediterranean area, and has displaced more   
   than 6 million within the country.   
      
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    AUDIENCES   
    Vatican City, 28 May 2014 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Plamen Oresharski, prime minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, and   
   entourage.   
    - Msgr. Francesco Follo, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations   
   Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).   
      
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    OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
    Vatican City, 28 May 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - appointed Bishop Jose Luiz Majella Delgado of Jatai as archbishop of Pouso   
   Alegre (area 12,281, population 817,000, Catholics 739,000, priests 59,   
   permanent deacons 1, religious 200), Brazil. He succeeds Archbishop Ricardo   
   Pedro Chaves Pinto Filho, O. Praem., whose resignation from the pastoral care   
   of the same archdiocese, upon reaching the age limit, was accepted by the Holy   
   Father.   
    - appointed the following members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the   
   Faith: Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Archbishop Stanislaw   
   Gadecki of Poznan, Poland, and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg,   
   Germany.   
      
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    NOTICE   
    Vatican City, 28 May 2014 (VIS) - We inform our readers that no VIS bulletin   
   will be transmitted tomorrow, Thursday 29 May, on the Solemnity of the Lord's   
   Ascension, a feast day in the Vatican. Service will resume on Friday, 30 May.   
      
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   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
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   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)