Rome, Italy, Mar 5, 2019 / 10:12 am
Embassies to the Holy See are teaming up with religious sisters to address the problem of modern slavery, which affects an estimated 40 million people around the world today.
"Religious women are important to us in our foreign policy objectives," British Ambassador to the Holy See Sally Axworthy said March 5.
"There are things that governments are good at and things that governments are not good at. It is a challenge to work with [human trafficking] victims worldwide … this is where religious orders excel," she said at a conference organized by the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations in Rome.
A veteran diplomat, Axworthy explained that while not a Catholic herself, she has witnessed how religious sisters have the "moral authority" that governments lack in some parts of the world in the fight to change a culture on this topic. Religious sisters can gain the trust of victims and commit to their long-term rehabilitation and healing, she said.