VATICAN CITY — Ken Hackett, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, has praised the attention Pope Francis is giving to the “scourge” of human trafficking, and he spoke of the collaborative initiatives between the U.S. and the Vatican aimed at the eradication of slavery in the modern world.

“These days, when the Pope speaks on any issue, it raises the attention level worldwide, and he has done that specifically with human trafficking, calling it a ‘scourge,’” the ambassador told CNA.

“I actually saw the note he wrote to one of the archbishops who heads the Pontifical Academy [of Sciences], saying, ‘What are you doing about this?’” Hackett said. “So the Pope has given this special attention.”

Hackett serves as the 10th U.S. ambassador to the Holy See after his nomination last fall, and he spoke with CNA about the U.S. State Department’s 2014 "Trafficking in Persons" report released June 20.

The annual report provides an assessment of 188 countries in terms of what they are doing to combat human trafficking in preventative and educational terms, as well as the assistance offered to recovered victims.

Observing how “the U.S. government has been interested in this for a long time,” as well as the embassy itself, Hackett drew attention to their collaboration with the Vatican. He recalled how, in his second week in office, “we convened a meeting with anyone we could find in and around the Vatican who was dealing with the issue of human trafficking and brought them together to share their experiences.”

He said the Pontifical Academy of Sciences organized two meetings in the last six months to address the issue with international law enforcement officials and spoke of the embassy’s partnership with both the Global Freedom Network and Talitha Kum.

Talitha Kum is a group of women religious who collaborate to fight human trafficking. The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See recently partnered with them in their most recent campaign against trafficking for the World Cup, entitled “Play for Life Against Human Trafficking.”

Hackett also noted how the embassy is working with the the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to “beef up their work on human trafficking in the United States.”

“Even in the United States, we’re still faced with those kind of issues. We’re not above it,” the ambassador said. “Prostitution, moving of people for forced labor all exists within the United States as well as the rest of the world.”

Referring to how the report identified the trafficking of persons onto fishing vessels as a growing phenomenon being uncovered, Hackett stated, “It’s like something right out of the 18th century.”

“People are taken on board boats, their passports are taken, and they work on those boats virtually as slaves,” he explained. He noted the Vatican organization Apostleship of the Sea is putting forth great efforts “to work on that particular issue.”

Regarding the growing danger of trafficking in war and conflict zones due to the increased numbers of persons fleeing violence in Syria and Iraq, the ambassador stated that this “is fertile ground,” because “when the situation is destabilized, that’s when bad things happen.”

Referring to a third international meeting organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences slated to take place between Vatican and civil law enforcement officials, Hackett said the embassy will be involved and present during the sessions.

“We have great hopes that it will continue to raise the attention level worldwide to this scourge,” he said, “and encourage governments and other organizations to do more to eliminate this terrible evil.”