Pope, Faith Leaders Team Up to End Modern Slavery

Pope Francis and religious leaders from a half-dozen faiths signed a new Vatican initiative Tuesday aimed at ending modern-day slavery by 2020.

The leaders declared that human trafficking, organ trafficking, forced labor, and prostitution are crimes against humanity.

Hindu guru Mata Amritanandamayi joined Francis as well as Justin Welby, the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, and Buddhist, Orthodox, Jewish, Shiite and Sunni Muslim leaders.

Their joint declaration inside the Vatican walls created an unusually high-profile ceremony featuring a human rights issue that has caught the world's attention in recent years.

In signing the declaration the leaders agreed to commit fully their faith communities to work to free the estimated 35 million people enslaved around the world by 2020.

The declaration reads in part "in the eyes of God, each human being is a free person, whether girl, boy, woman or man and is destined to exist for the good of all in equality and fraternity."

Pope Francis had taken the fight against modern-day slavery as a priority of his pontificate, stemming from his ministry to the poor in the slums of Buenos Aires.

He has also launched the Global Freedom Network, another multi-faith initiative, which encourages governments and businesses to eliminate slave labor from their supply chains.

This week Francis tweeted "Slaves no more. We are all brothers and sisters."