Calling it a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, a U.S. District Judge from Gainesville is scheduled to offer his legal insight on the human trafficking issue with Pope Francis in June.
The Honorable Richard W. Story is one of about 50 judges from around the world invited to share insights on the issue with the Pope at the Judges' Summit on Human Trafficking and Organized Crime.
"Judges will have a few minutes each to present a specific case they have worked on and share their opinion of what will be (or ought to be) required in the future," a post about the summit on the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences website stated.
The summit is planned for June 3 and 4 at Vatican City.
"I will be focusing primarily on a fairly substantial international trafficking case that I tried a couple of years ago that involved a number of issues related to both the handling of the trial of those charged as well as the issues related to the victims," Story said.
Story, who said he still gets goose bumps talking about the opportunity, called it "wonderful" that Pope Francis takes interest in issues like human trafficking.
"It's my understanding that this is driven by his interest. He has a strong concern about the issue of human trafficking and wants to address the issue in a positive way."
As Story prepares to speak on a world stage of sorts, he called human trafficking a "significant problem in north Georgia."
"There are statistics that suggest that the Atlanta area is a hub for this type of activity," Story said.
He said the issue is attributed to a couple of factors; Atlanta being both transportation and convention business hubs. But the issue is not limited to the city according to Story.
"It extends into our home area up in Northeast Georgia, in Hall County and surrounding areas."
While the June trip will focus on a somber and tragic subject, the opportunity just to address the Pontiff in person is not lost on Story.
"To have an audience with the Pope is truly amazing. I can't believe I'm getting to do this."
In a moment of lightheartedness, when asked, Story said he happens to be a Protestant.
"I'm a Methodist, so there's an obvious open-door policy on this meeting, so yes, just a good ol' Methodist boy is going to get to go and meet the Pope. I'm pretty excited about it."
