Pope Francis begs the world for an end to all wars in his New Year wish
Tens of
thousands of people in St Peter’s Square in Rome saw his first
appearance of the year at the Vatican window, where he expressed ‘the
wish that there will never be more wars’.
He
said: ‘Peace is always possible. We must search for it.’ And he said he
agreed with a sign in the crowd that read: ‘Prayer is at the root of
peace.’
Earlier, celebrating his
first Mass of 2015 in St Peter’s Basilica, he urged people of all
religions and cultures to fight modern slavery and human trafficking,
saying everyone had a right to be free.
Pope Francis said ‘Each, according to his or her own responsibilities, is called to combat modern forms of enslavement.
‘From every people, culture and religion, let us join our forces.’
The service marked the Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace.
This year’s theme is: ‘No longer slaves, but brothers and sisters.'
Last
month Francis appealed to consumers to shun low-cost goods that may be
the product of forced labour or other forms of exploitation.
That
message was sent to heads of state and governments, international
institutions and parishes throughout the 1.2 billion-member Church.
Note
The 2nd Global Slavery Index released in November 2014 by the Walk Free Foundation, an
Australian-based human rights group, estimated that almost 36 million
people were living as slaves, trafficked into brothels, forced into
manual labour, victims of debt bondage or born into servitude
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