By Carole Hughes for The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia
"I am not free until all who are oppressed by modern slavery are free."
Archbishop Sir David Moxon preached on this theme in the Church Centre of the United Nations in New York on Thursday morning (12 March).
The Anglican Communion women's delegation was responsible for the worship.
Archdeacon Carole Hughes, representing Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, was involved in organising the liturgy, welcoming everyone and introducing Archbishop David.
Later in the day Archbishop David presided at the midday Eucharist and delivered an inspiring session on a multi-faith initiative for the eradication of modern slavery and human trafficking, This derives from a global faith leaders' declaration against slavery.
Archbishop David is an executive board member on the Global Freedom Network, a faith-based initiative of Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
"The things that horrified us about Charles Dickens' novels are back," Archbishop David said.
"What can faith communities do? 80 percent of the world's population is influenced by religion," Archbishop David said.
"Faith communities have connections around the world.
"One strategy of the Global Freedom Network is to encourage legislation that provokes global corporations to get themselves slave-free.
"The only reason slavery exists is because someone is paying for the products the slaves are making. It is a huge undertaking but if addressed on a global scale then it is possible to eradicate trafficking and slavery.
"None of us is as strong as all of us."
Women's rights
Earlier, Ms Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, General Secretary of World YWCA, offered inspirational thoughts on achieving women's rights.
"If there is a boulder in the way don't jump over it, but remove it so others can walk ahead," she said.
Archdeacon Carole commented: "All of us experience huge boulders in our pathways, but they do not need to stop us.
"As women we are good at working around institutional structures that hold us back.
"The challenge I take from Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda is that we also have a responsibility to remove the boulder so others who follow us do not have to experience the same struggles."
- For further coverage of Anglican participation at the 59th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, see /news/2015/03/anglican-communion-women-advocate-at-un-for-gender-equality.aspx and http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2015/03/12/anglicans-gather-for-un-commission-on-the-status-of-women/
- The Most Reverend Sir David Moxon is the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. He was formerly the Bishop of Waikato, Senior Bishop of the New Zealand Dioceses, and an Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
- Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda grew up in Zimbabwe, daughter of a child bride forced into marriage at 15 years old and one of 14 children. She is a human rights lawyer with experience in conflict resolution and mediation and has served in the past with the United Nations as a member of UNICEF, UNIFEM and the UN Civil Socity Advisory Group on UN Resolution 1325 on on women, peace and security. She now heads World YWCA, a global movement of 25 million women, young women and girls in over 120 countries that aims to promote young women’s leadership on issues affecting their lives, and bring the voices of women from grassroots communities into global debates.