can you buy Pregabalin over the counter Address by Cardinal Vincent Nichols to the Special Conference held at the United Nations on 7 April 2016 on the combatting of human trafficking and modern slavery

Mr President, Your Excellencies, Sisters, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to address you this afternoon on this most important topic which is increasingly demanding not only our attention but that of the entire world. I address you behalf of the Santa Marta Group, an international network of cooperation and initiatives, active in this work against human trafficking and modern slavery. I speak, therefore, in the name of the Catholic community which today again wishes to make clear its unequivocal support for all who undertake this work and its willingness to take part in it.

In asserting this commitment of the Church, I emphasise the foundations from which we act: a radical commitment to the dignity of every human person, a dignity which has to be protected and promoted in every circumstance and time; a dignity which does not depend on the abilities or status of a person but which is rooted entirely in the inner depth of the person’s existence, in the gift of human life which always comes from the Divine Creator who has shown himself to be our loving Father. Human trafficking and slavery radically strips a person of this fundamental dignity, reducing them to the status of a commodity. It is an evil crying out to heaven. That there are over 20 million people callously held in modern slavery in our world today is a mark of deep shame on the face of our human family that no words alone can remove. The challenge that the eyes of faith see before us today is to work to our utmost to rescue, protect, assist and serve the poorest of the Father’s children who have be sold into slavery even as Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers ‘in the beginning'(Gen 37.32).

More personally I stand before you because of three key moments in my life.

The first was four years ago when I listened, for the first time, to the witness of a young woman who had been betrayed into the slavery of enforced prostitution. Her story was heart-wrenching. But what added a particular depth to my shock was the fact that she was a young English woman, trafficked from England into slavery in Italy.

The second moment was occurring about the same time. I began to witness a remarkable partnership being built in London between religious women and London police force, Scotland Yard. This partnership transformed the effectiveness of operations to rescue victims, care for them and pursue to prosecution the perpetrators of this horrendous crime. I realised then the effectiveness of such partnerships, especially between unlikely partners.  Religious women, working on the street, did not instinctively trust the law enforcement agencies who they understood, with good reason, were in all likelihood going to prosecute the very women the Sisters were trying to protect. Yet over time the partnership was established. It was the fruit of the hard work of building trust, a work made up of many demanding practical steps, requiring change in mindsets and procedures. For one thing, it was essential that the police gave to the Sisters the assurance that the victims of trafficking would not be prosecuted, but rather they would be helped.

The third moment came two years ago when, at the end of our first Santa Marta Conference in Rome, Pope Francis turned to me and asked me to keep this work going. That is an order that cannot be refused!

The Santa  Marta Group brings together the leaders of law enforcement agencies from an increasing number of countries – 36 at the last count – and the resources of the Catholic Church, in order to fashion shared alliances of effective action in the fight against human slavery. There have, to date, been three major international gatherings: in Rome, London and Madrid. Results are emerging, with a growing number of countries putting together effective partnerships in this work. Strong examples can be given – in Edu State, Nigeria, – for example, where a detailed four year programme is being put into effect.  Similarly, a North Atlantic Maritime initiative is emerging to tackle the problems of unjust working conditions in the fishing industry. Other initiatives involving the Catholic community have emerged in Argentina and Lithuania and requests for initiatives have come in from the Philippines, South Africa and Mozambique.

The core of the vision and work of Santa Marta, then, is to foster a  symbiotic relationship between law enforcement and the resources of the Catholic Church in this great fight.

I offer this brief sketch of this work because the new Sustainable Development Goals now express the official commitment of every UN member state to work, in this period, for the eradication of human trafficking and modern slavery. The core proposal of this day is that this goal cannot be achieved without effective, international cooperation at many levels, one of which is indeed the

Santa Marta Group, open to all who see the importance of its insight and wish to take part in its processes.

Such international partnerships require not only a shared motivation but also some clear key aims. For us they are univocal: the well-being of every victim of human trafficking, for it is the victim who must always be central to our efforts; the enhancement of the work of law enforcement: the breaking up of criminal networks, the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators; and thirdly the strengthening of the legal frameworks within which this work is carried out.

For me, and I am sure for many of you, Pope Francis remains a central and inspiring figure. He is direct and blunt in what he expects of us – something far more than words: effective action on the ground which frees prisoners, comforts the victims, serves their well-being and generates new hope in a world in which there is far too much suffering, poverty and grief.

When he was here at the UN in September last year Pope Francis talked about the importance of having ‘the will to put an end as quickly as possible to the phenomena of social and economic exclusion’ mentioning first ‘human trafficking and slave labour.’ He called on us to create institutions which ‘are truly effective in the struggle against these scourges.’ He asked us to remember always that we are responding to ‘real men and women’, sons and daughters of our one Eternal Father’ and who are therefore truly our brothers and sisters. In their plight we are complicit. In their freedom we will rejoice with a joy no other satisfaction can give.

I hope and pray that this important Conference will mark a vital step in the work not only of our individual nations and agencies, working in new and effective partnerships, but also in the role of the United Nations itself, an institution which, in the words of Pope Francis, is ‘an appropriate juridical and political response to this present moment of history.’

I thank you for your attention.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Archbishop of Westminster

United Nations Headquarters, New York, 7 April 2016.

Pope Francis’ Easter Message was summarised by the BBC commentator in  the words:  “…many references there, both direct and indirect to the fact that  this has been declared by the Pope the Holy Year of Mercy, a year which many have seen it with the emphasis rather less on the rules of the Church, the strict observance, than on mercy, mercy being available and open to all.  The full text is below.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, a Happy and Holy Easter!

the Church throughout the world echoes the angel’s message to the women: “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised… Come, see the place where he lay” ( Mt 28:5-6). This is the culmination of the Gospel, it is the Good News par excellence: Jesus, who was crucified, is risen! This event is the basis of our faith and our hope. If Christ were not raised, Christianity would lose its very meaning; the whole mission of the Church would lose its impulse, for this is the point from which it first set out and continues to set out ever anew.

The message which Christians bring to the world is this: Jesus, Love incarnate, died on the cross for our sins, but God the Father raised him and made him the Lord of life and death. In Jesus, love has triumphed over hatred, mercy over sinfulness, goodness over evil, truth over falsehood, life over death.

That is why we tell everyone: “Come and see!” In every human situation, marked by frailty, sin and death, the Good News is no mere matter of words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love: it is about leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast… “Come and see!”: Love is more powerful, love gives life, love makes hope blossom in the wilderness.

With this joyful certainty in our hearts, today we turn to you, risen Lord!  Help us to seek you and to find you, to realize that we have a Father and are not orphans; that we can love and adore you.

Help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible.

Enable us to protect the vulnerable, especially children, women and the elderly, who are at times exploited and abandoned.

Enable us to care for our brothers and sisters struck by the Ebola epidemic in Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and to care for those suffering from so many other diseases which are also spread through neglect and dire poverty.

Comfort all those who cannot celebrate this Easter with their loved ones because they have been unjustly torn from their affections, like the many persons, priests and laity, who in various parts of the world have been kidnapped.

Comfort those who have left their own lands to migrate to places offering hope for a better future and the possibility of living their lives in dignity and, not infrequently, of freely professing their faith.

We ask you, Lord Jesus, to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent.

We pray in a particular way for Syria, beloved Syria, that all those suffering the effects of the conflict can receive needed humanitarian aid and that neither side will again use deadly force, especially against the defenceless civil population, but instead boldly negotiate the peace long awaited and long overdue!

Jesus, Lord of glory, we ask you to comfort the victims of fratricidal acts of violence in Iraq and to sustain the hopes raised by the resumption of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

We beg for an end to the conflicts in the Central African Republic and a halt to the brutal terrorist attacks in parts of Nigeria and the acts of violence in South Sudan.

We ask that hearts be turned to reconciliation and fraternal concord in Venezuela.

By your resurrection, which this year we celebrate together with the Churches that follow the Julian calendar, we ask you to enlighten and inspire the initiatives that promote peace in Ukraine so that all those involved, with the support of the international community, will make every effort to prevent violence and, in a spirit of unity and dialogue, chart a path for the country’s future. On this day, may they be able to proclaim, as brothers and sisters, that Christ is risen, Khrystos voskres!

Lord, we pray to you for all the peoples of the earth: you who have conquered death, grant us your life, grant us your peace!

Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!

http://rodneymills.com/hnjaz/aryeh-kushner.html In a letter to CAFOD, prompted by your campaign actions, Climate and Energy Secretary Amber Rudd highlighted the important role that Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si played in securing an ambitious deal on climate: “I would like to thank CAFOD for the key role they played in helping to communicate the document and look forward to working closely together to build on what was achieved at COP21. ‘TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE’”