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By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A Vatican summit on organ trafficking called for greater efforts to prevent the exploitation of those vulnerable to corrupt health professionals and criminal networks making the sale of human organs possible.

"We, the undersigned participants of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences summit on organ trafficking, resolve to combat these crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world," said the final statement, released to the public Feb. 9.

The summit, held at the Vatican Feb. 7-8, brought together government ministers, judges, law enforcement personnel, medical professionals, human rights activists and journalists -- in all, representing more than 50 nations, especially those plagued by organ trafficking, like China, Mexico, India, Pakistan and Iran, where the sale of human organs is legal.

One of the summit's goals, according to its brochure, was to build an alliance comprised of prosecutors, legal experts, governments and healthcare professionals from all over the world to encourage each other to put pressure on their own nations to implement measures to stop organ trafficking and transplant tourism.

Signatories to the final statement approved 11 recommendations that will be proposed to "national, regional and municipal governments, ministries of health, to the judiciary, to the leaders of the major religions, to professional medical organizations, and to the general public for implementation around the world."

The recommendations included defining the use of organs from executed prisoners -- a practice human rights groups say happens in China -- and payments to donors -- which is legal in Iran -- "as crimes that should be condemned worldwide and legally prosecuted at the national and international level."

It asked religious leaders do more to encourage the ethical and free donation of organs while condemning organ trafficking.

It called on nations to do more in preventative health care so as to reduce, where possible, the demand for organs, and to improve people's access to safe, ethical and regulated procedures in their own countries.

It also recommended the creation of international data banks to track all organ procurements and transplants and share data on transplant-related crimes so as to "yield a clearer understanding of their nature and scope and of the organization of the criminal networks involved."

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Editor's note: Full statement in English found online at:

http://www.pas.va/content/accademia/en/events/2017/organ_trafficking/statement.html

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Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Anti-Semitism is absolutely contrary to Christianity, and the church has a duty to denounce and repel such hatred, Pope Francis said.

There are no words, however, that could ever adequately address "the horrors of cruelty and sin" of the Holocaust, he added. There is only prayer "that God may have mercy and that such tragedies may never happen again."

The pope made his comments Feb. 9 at the Vatican during an audience with a delegation of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that fights anti-Semitism.

"Sadly, anti-Semitism, which I again denounce in all its forms as completely contrary to Christian principles and every vision worthy of the human person, is still widespread today," the pope said.

He reaffirmed that the Catholic Church "feels particularly obliged to do all that is possible with our Jewish friends to repel anti-Semitic tendencies."

More than ever, the fight against anti-Semitism needs effective tools of education and formation that teach respect for everyone and protection for the weakest.

"Caring for the sacred gift of all human life and safeguarding its dignity, from conception to death, is the best way of preventing every type of violence," he said.

"Faced with too much violence spreading throughout the world, we are called to a greater nonviolence, which does not mean passivity, but active promotion of the good," he said. "Indeed, if it is necessary to pull out the weeds of evil, it is even more vital to sow the seeds of goodness."

That requires cultivating justice, promoting harmony and sustaining integration "without growing weary."

Pope Francis encouraged the delegates to continue their work, knowing that "the best remedies against the rise of hatred consist in making available the means necessary for a dignified life, in promoting culture and favoring religious freedom everywhere, as well as in protecting believers and religions from every form of violence and exploitation."

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Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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