Burgemeesters in het Vaticaan tegen moderne slavernij en klimaatverandering

Op uitnodiging van de Pauselijke Academies voor Wetenschappen en Sociale Wetenschappen verzamelen burgemeesters uit verschillende continenten vandaag dinsdag en morgen woensdag in het Vaticaan. Thema’s van de beide ontmoetingen zijn hedendaagse vormen van slavernij en de klimaatverandering.

Anne Hidalgo, aux cérémonies du 11 Novembre 2008 à Paris. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Paus Franciscus verwelkomt vandaag een 60-tal burgemeesters van grote steden in Europa, Azië, Amerika en Afrika, onder meer burgemeester Anne Hidalgo van Parijs, Bill de Blasio van New York maar Boris Johnson van Londen gaf verstek. In de Synodezaal overleggen ze op uitnodiging van de Pauselijke Academie voor Wetenschappen twee dagen lang over de problematiek van de hedendaagse slavernij en de klimaatverandering en de manier waarop zij zich als burgemeester daarin kunnen engageren.

Morgen woensdag 22 juli staat een tweede ontmoeting op het programma, die mee georganiseerd wordt door de Verenigde Naties, dit keer over het thema van het aandeel van de steden in de duurzame ontwikkeling. Voor mgr. Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, de Argentijnse kanselier van de pauselijke academies, is het duidelijk dat klimaatverandering en armoede met elkaar verbonden zijn.
Naar schatting 36 miljoen mensen wereldwijd zouden vandaag rechtstreeks of onrechtstreeks het slachtoffer zijn van hedendaagse vormen van slavernij. Op uitnodiging van paus Franciscus heeft mgr. Sanchez Sorondo verschillende ontmoetingen georganiseerd tussen bisschoppen en politici en tussen religieuze leiders. Die hebben op 2 december 2014 een gemeenschappelijke verklaring ondertekend om samen de slavernij te bestrijden. De burgemeesters worden uitgenodigd om dezelfde verklaring te onderschrijven en concrete maatregelen te ondernemen.
Een privémecenas financiert de ontmoeting met een gift van 120.000 euro.

 

(Kerknet)

 

Related articles

• Has Boris Johnson snubbed the Pope?
• World mayors at Vatican seek ‘bold climate agreement’
• UK is not doing enough to help refugees coming to Europe, says Lampedusa mayor
• Gov. Jerry Brown at Pope Francis’ Vatican summit: Millions are suffering because of climate change
• Mayor: New Orleans’ natural resources a blessing and curse
• Stockholm mayor: Paris climate talks must nix fossil fuels

Vatican meeting of mayors talking about global warming, human trafficking and modern-day slavery

65 mayors and top representatives from some of the world’s most prominent cities — including New York, Paris, Stockholm, and Tehran came to the Vatican, whilst the London major send his cat.

Both Tuesday’s workshop, titled “Modern Slavery and Climate Change: The Commitment of the Cities,” and a Wednesday symposium on “Prosperity, People, and Planet: Achieving Sustainable Development in Our Cities,” will be hosted by the Vatican’s Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences and underwritten by an Italian donor.

The meetings are cosponsored by the United Nations.

Francis told the mayors at a Vatican summit on climate change and human trafficking that he placed great trust in the United Nations to bring about a good agreement.

Pope Francis said he has “a lot of hope” that negotiators at Paris climate talks will reach an ambitious agreement to reduce global warming.

But he also wants U.N. nations to prioritize fighting both human trafficking and the exploitation of the world’s most vulnerable people.

The Vatican is angling to make sure the U.N.’s new Sustainable Development Goals, to be finalized in September, address the problems of human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

Trafficking In Persons Report Map 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Green) Italy. (Light-green) The European Union (EU). (Grey) Europe. (Light-grey) The surrounding region. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio did express his discontentment concerning the European Union leaving Italy in the cold. That country can impossibly deal on its own with waves of immigrants coming from North Africa. The EU must come up with a Europe-wide immigration policy.

De Blasio, whose grandparents emigrated from Italy to New York, said he was

“deeply troubled by the lack of action by the European Union and the way that Italy has been left to fend for itself very unfairly.”

The African-American Birmingham Mayor William Bell had a very personal reason for being at the Vatican’s conference on climate change and human slavery.

Today, he told his fellow mayors from around the world:

“At the time of my birth, I was born into a society in Birmingham, Alabama, that existed as a close cousin of slavery called segregation.”

and continued:

“Segregation was designed to exploit individuals and groups based on race and race alone. It was for the economic purpose of cheap labour. It was to control society. It was to control human beings.”

Related articles

• Amnesty urges EU to focus on rescuing migrants
• Thousands More Flee Burundi Because of Political Violence
• UN urges EU to step in and help Greece with migrant crisis
• European Union and Eurozone Appetite for Imported Hydrocarbons; Greek and Iranian Effects
• Nigel Farage: The European Union is dying before our eyes
• Playing the EU asylum lottery
• At Vatican conference, world mayors urge action on climate change
• UN chief: Negotiations on global warming pact are moving at a ‘snail’s pace’ and must speed up
• France’s Fabius says climate talks were constructive
• World mayors at Vatican seek ‘bold climate agreement’