VATICAN CORNER
Continued… Last December 2014, Pope Francis joined leaders of the world’s religious faiths to sign a declaration aimed at ending modern slavery. That event has no parallel in history and was organized by billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Global Freedom Network, one of a number of entities controlled by Mr. Forrest aimed at ending human trafficking and slavery. It took a tremendous amount of diplomatic skill, and a commitment of real money, and Mr. Forrest ranks the signing as amongst his greatest and most difficult achievement. The religious leaders and the Network committed to eradicate slavery by 2020 which looks very ambitious, since 29 to 36 million people are trapped in slavery of some kind. The broad definition of slavery used by the organizations includes forced labor, forced marriages and sex-trafficking. Australian mining tycoon Andrew Forrest is a bundle of contradictions. He is a man who professes his love for Aboriginal people, but plays tough when they stand in the way of his mines. He is a free-marketeer who went close to arguing for an industry cartel, and a generous philanthropist, who has shackled his charities to his commercial interests. From mining claims discarded by other companies he built Fortescue Metals Group into the fourth largest iron exporter in the world. He has a genuine social conscience and has dedicated considerable time and personal resources to issues such as Indigenous disadvantage. He has pledged to give away nearly all his wealth during his lifetime. But critics say his charities over-promise and under-deliver.
In a startling turn of events, in August, 2015, the Vatican has accused Andrew Forrest of exploiting the Pope as it distances itself from his anti-slavery campaign, which it had pledged to support. In a scathing statement, one of Pope Francis’s principal aides, Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, told reporters the Vatican had walked away from Mr Forrest’s campaign to end slavery because it felt the Pope had been exploited. “We do not want to be used, a businessman has the right to make money but not by using the Pope.” A spokesman from Mr. Forrest’s charity, the Walk Free Foundation, defended the initiative. “At absolutely no point in time was this a business initiative. Walk Free Foundation provided all the funding to the Global Freedom Network when the (declaration) was achieved this was over 1 million euros in direct funding in addition to substantial other costs. Walk Free Foundation continues to proudly support the Global Freedom Network.”
Human trafficking experts like Dr. Anne Gallagher, who has consulted to the United Nations, believes Mr. Forrest’s initiatives only offer simplistic solutions to deep-seated problems. “The trouble with the approach is that it assumes this problem can be fixed by pushing governments, by getting a lot of young people to sign up to petitions that go to corporations,” Dr. Gallagher said. Mr. Forrest defended the charity, which he said was forcing governments across the world to confront human trafficking in their countries. “When (critics) can come up with more than criticism we’ll really applaud because then they will be helping us.”
Sources: theguardian.com , abc.net.au , cathnews.com, smh.com.au