Pope Francis has met with the members of the Galileo Foundation. They are a Christian organization who sponsors various papal projects and initiatives; and works toward combating modern slavery and human trafficking.
Pope Francis took the opportunity to stress the importance of stopping the “deadly crime of human trafficking.”
POPE FRANCIS
“This is an urgent and essential duty for today’s Christians. As such, it is surely no coincidence that we meet on the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, the patron of victims of human trafficking. She knew from painful experience the reality of slavery and its humiliating and violent consequences.”
During their meeting, the pope also heard one of the members sing Ave Maria in Latin.
The Galileo Foundation has also been involved in strengthening ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Anglican Church. They even commissioned the crosier staff Pope Francis presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury at San Gregorio al Celio Church in Oct. 2016, which was organized to mark 50 years of dialogue between the two churches.
