Vatican City, 19 September, 2024 / 7:15 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis on Thursday called on participants of the Conference on the Social Use of Assets Confiscated from the Mafia to work toward recovering the well-being — not just the assets — of victims and communities wounded by organized crime.
“I invite you to focus the conversations of these days on the urgency of recovering the well-being of all people, men and women, the good of each one, where everyone counts and no one is discarded,” the pope said in his message originally written in Spanish on the occasion of the conference taking place at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican on Sept. 19–20.
The Holy Father insisted that it is neither “possible nor tolerable” to forget the damage done to the dignity of millions of men and women who suffer “hunger and fear of violence, oppression, or injustice” because of transnational criminal operations.
“Only by understanding this damage can we discern how to assist, protect, and repair aspects essential to resolving conflicts and bringing about peace,” the pope said.
The conference, organized by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Italian anti-Mafia organization Libera, aims to highlight the need for international cooperation and an integrated approach to mitigate the activities and impact of criminal networks and structures.
