VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis welcomed Thursday delegates from the Santa Marta Group, an organization working against human trafficking, to the Apostolic Palace in the Holy See, the Vatican said.

The Santa Marta Group is an alliance of international police chiefs and bishops from around the world working together with civil society in a process endorsed by Pope Francis, to eradicate human trafficking and modern day slavery -- what the pope describes as “an open wound on the body of contemporary society.”

 The pontiff welcomed the bishops and police chiefs in a direct address to the delegation, talking of this cause as “one of the greatest challenges of our time -- a new form of slavery, whose victims are men and women, often minors, exploited because of their poverty and marginalization.”

 “What is needed is a concerted, constructive and constant engagement, to eliminate the causes of this complex phenomenon, and to find, assist and accompany the people who fall into the traps of the trade,” the Francis continued.

 “The number of these victims -- according to international organizations -- unfortunately grows every year. It is the most vulnerable who have their dignity, their physical and psychological integrity and even their life taken away from them.”

 The head of the Holy See concluded with words of encouragement and a promise of prayer and support for the organization.

 Victims of human trafficking who managed to escape the constant cycle of servitude and exploitation then gave their testimonies to the conference.

 Al Bangura from Sierra Leone, who was sent to Guinea during his native country’s brutal civil war was then brought to Paris and then London by a Frenchman offering him false hope, where men tried to rape and exploit him. Somehow he managed to escape and now plays professional football for Watford FC, also now an ambassador at Sport for Freedom -- a charity that uses the power of sport to raise awareness about human trafficking and helps to rehabilitate its survivors.

 Princess Inyang from Nigeria was brought through London and France to Italy in 1999, where she was forced into an endless cycle of prostitution to pay debts. She too managed to escape with help from others and founded PIAM Onlus with the idea of helping victims of prostitution.

 Crystal from the Caribbean who wanted to escape from a violent marriage, was forced to work in domestic servitude, first for a middle-class family in Nigeria, then in London. After managing to break with this cycle, she now works as an administrator and employment advisor for a welfare/back to work charity in South East London.

 All three victims highlighted the need for greater international effort to be made to stop this “social wound” from growing and eliminate it altogether.

 nkd