Santa Marta Group: An Appreciation

In December of last year, the Santa Marta Group issued a statement to say it will not continue as a stand-alone charity beyond March 2026, although they will seek a new framework for the Group's ongoing international contribution.

This is an opportune moment, then, to offer an appreciation of the work of the Santa Marta Group and, as he retires from his role as Archbishop of Westminster, its leader and inspiration, Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

In 2014, with the encouragement of Pope Francis, Cardinal Vincent established the Santa Marta Group with the aim of taking systemic international action to address people trafficking. Recognising the international operation of traffickers, they identified a need for international co-operation, and worked to catalyse collaboration between the Catholic church, governments and law enforcement.

They have also worked with businesses and governments to identify where businesses were profiting from trafficking, and build a consensus for 'No tainted money', aiming to cut off profit as a driver of trafficking.

Over the past few years, the Santa Marta Group turned its expertise towards building understanding of the presence of trafficking in the UK through the Catholic community, supporting dioceses and parishes to raise awareness of the signs of trafficking and improve sign-posting to crucial support. This work has raised awareness of trafficking and exploitation, challenged indifference, and led to many fruitful collaborations.

With the recent announcement of the end of this chapter of their work, all of us at Caritas Social Action Network would like to thank the Santa Marta Group for their inspiring work and Cardinal Vincent Nichols for his leadership and tireless commitment to raising awareness of trafficking and modern slavery.

Over the next three years, thanks to funding from the Gubay Foundation, CSAN will be building on some of the Santa Marta Group's work across England and Wales, with the aim of nurturing the growing movement against extreme exploitation and modern slavery both at the community level and nationally.

This work will be rooted in the rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching and its foundational principle of the intrinsic dignity of every human, made in the image and likeness of God. It will involve collaborating with experts in our network - including Medaille Trust, SJOG, Caritas Westminster's Bakhita House, JRS UK and a number of diocesan Caritas agencies.

We will also work with the wider sector to develop and support projects, programmes and campaigns that foreground the knowledge and needs of survivors, deepen the Church's understanding of modern slavery, and target the drivers of extreme exploitation, with a view to building up God's Kingdom of peace, love and justice. Please contact fiona.ranford@csan.org.uk for more information on this work.

CSAN resources for the 2026 International Day of Prayer and Awareness against People Trafficking on Sunday 8th February are available here.

Santa Marta Group: https://santamartagroup.org/