Speaker: Douglas Porpora, PhD, professor of sociology
Title: The Vatican's Efforts on Human Trafficking and the Demand Side of the Problem

Pope Francis and the Vatican have adopted human trafficking as a major problem for the Catholic Church to combat. Douglas Porpora, PhD, was invited to present a paper on the topic in April at a Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences, a council of social scientists from around the world that advises the Pope on various social matters. Porpora was invited not because he is an expert on trafficking, but because of his work on what he calls a macro-moral disconnect, which is a contemporary failure to address macro-moral matters in moral terms.

This talk will cover Porpora’s visit to the Pontifical Academy; the nature of the Academy; the Vatican's initiative on trafficking; and Porpora’s contributed analysis of what it will take to reduce the normative demand for trafficked persons.