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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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