Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 22, 2019 / 04:00 am
In a meeting with leaders of major religions in Thailand Friday, Pope Francis stressed the importance of upholding human dignity and religious freedom.
"For our part, we are asked to embrace the moral imperative of upholding human dignity and respecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom," he said Nov. 22 at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
Addressing religious leaders, he said "all of us are called not only to heed the voice of the poor in our midst: the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, the indigenous peoples and religious minorities, but also to be unafraid to create opportunities, as is already quietly occurring, to work hand in hand."
"And to do so," he added, "in a spirit of fraternal solidarity that can help end the many present-day forms of slavery, especially the scourge of human trafficking."