The Catholic Weekly 9 August 2020

9 9, August, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au FROM THE ARCHBISHOP There’s something dishonourable about a state-government stalling legislation passed by the Parliament to combat slavery in our society. PHOTO: ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS, REUTERS their vast Catholic education systems, both the Australian Catholic University and the University of Notre Dame Aus- tralia, some PJP schools, major players in the Catholic health and aged care sector, Catho- lic Cemeteries and other social welfare service providers, and Church financial services. And if each of you attracts another member in the year head we can be 64 next time we meet! Stitching together that al- liance has required colossal effort, and I thank Mr John McCarthy QC and his team for all they’ve done to bring this forward; all their collaborators in ACAN; and all those Church agencies and organisations that have come on board. Lest there be any doubt about the Church’s commit- ment to this issue, we might consider the unremitting preaching and lobbying by Pope Francis on this matter. He has taught on the question: • in his major teaching doc- uments: Evangelii Gaudium , Laudato Si’ and Gaudete et Ex- sultate ; • in addresses to ambas- sadors, to international con- ferences on human traffick- ing and to other international meetings • inmessages issued each year for the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking or on other commemorations such as the World Day of Peace or the World Day of Migrants and Refugees • in other messages or ad- dresses • in speeches for the Christ- mas Ubi et Orbi, papal audi- ences andWednesday and Sunday Angeluses; • inmultiple homilies, in- cluding a powerful one a few weeks ago on the Feast of St Jo- seph the Worker; • in the Abu Dhabi Declara- tion on Human Fraternity; and • in in-flight press confer- ences. He misses no opportunity to press this matter, and the Holy See has been similarly vigilant, including only last week at a conference organised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Every Catholic should share Pope Francis’ passion on this matter. But as Aristotle observed, ‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’. Not even several signs of recognition such as I have identified are yet assur- ances of abolition. Wilberforce was right to call it a scandal for a suppos- edly Christian society to have turned a blind eye to the prac- tice of chattel slavery for so long and enjoyed the financial benefits of that continuing in- justice. Our own society may brag less about how Christian it is, but it claims to be a mod- el of ‘enlightened’ values and respect for rights and free- doms. While ever we continue to benefit from forced labour and the like we bear, inWil- berforce’s words, ‘disgrace and dishonour’ of a kind history may scarce believe we allowed to continue for so long. We remain complicit in a crime against humanity, which humanity lies on the side of the road, bleeding from an open wound, waiting – as Pope Francis has observed – for a Good Samaritan to stop and help and heal. Two years ago the New SouthWales Parliament indi- cated it would be such a Good Samaritan, by passing a mod- el anti-trafficking law for our times, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) . At the time the Premier de- scribed such action as ‘a moral imperative’. NSWwas offering the nation and the world a lead in this, by holding to a higher standard thanmany. Yet here we are, two years later, and that law has still not come into force. Three years ago, when I quotedWilber- force saying “Youmay do nothing about it, but at least now you can’t say you didn’t know”, I didn’t dream that a law, passed by both houses of our state parliament and giv- en the Royal assent, with wide public support and in keeping with the best of our Christian anti-slavery and secular hu- man rights traditions, would be blocked from coming into force by a democratic govern- ment. So nowwe have a NSW gov- ernment anti-slavery website, decrying this as an evil affect- ing at least 40 million people worldwide and thousands in Australia, a Legislative Council Standing Committee recom- mending (following an unnec- essary review) that the Act be allowed to enter into opera- tion, and a Government still stalling for time. Has the Good Samaritan state decided to ‘cross to the other side’ and ignore the man beaten and left for dead on the Jericho Road? “Disgrace and dishonour” it has been that for many years our community was blind, deaf andmute to the problem of modern slavery and human trafficking. But howmuch more disgraceful and dishon- ourable after it has publicly recognised this evil, moved to eradicate it from our supply chains and by other action, and then thwarted suchmea- sures apparently so businesses and consumers may continue to benefit from slavery. Today, as we launch the ACAN 2020 Annual Report , let us not lose hope or determi- nation to keep the anti-slavery momentum going – COVID or not. We can and should rightly celebrate the ‘first fruits of our labour’. And we renew our resolve to work for that day where mod- ern slavery is remembered in history books. God bless your efforts abundantly! This is the edited text of the remarks by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP at the Launch of the Annual Report of the Australian Catholic An- ti-Slavery Network onWorld Day Against Trafficking in Persons at Cathedral House, Sydney, 29 July 2020. Stay safe and happy at home with holistic home care packages Discover our range of in-home services 1300 216 675