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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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