Working with the Vatican against modern slavery - John Kerry

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/04/19/cooperating-with-vatican-against-modern-slavery/5yQWBqDf9xF320ruta08rN/story.html

By John Kerry | APRIL 20, 2014


US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) spoke with Vatican Secretary of State Archbishop Pietro Parolin (right) in January.

Last month, I traveled to Rome with President Obama, where I was honored to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. As an altar boy six decades ago, I never imagined that I would find myself crossing the threshold of the Vatican to see the Bishop of Rome.

My wife, Teresa, and I took our own pilgrimage three years ago at Easter to Assisi, and traveled to Porziuncala to see the chapel which St. Francis restored out of the rubble, one of his own special ways of acting upon the prophecy visited upon him to “repair my house.” Two years later, Teresa and I sat in Mass at Georgetown as our priest shared the moving story of the moment Pope Francis decided to take Francis for his name as the Holy Father – after the Cardinal from Brazil shared his caution not to “forget the poor.”

Today, all the world knows that this was more than a symbolic statement by Pope Francis, but rather the start of a mission that is now an example to the world.

Today, as the first Catholic secretary of state in 33 years, I find special joy and pride in the way that the United States can partner with the Holy See to help meet some of our greatest global challenges.

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