Trocaire appealed for backing to a campaign to abolish modern-day slavery at the launch of its Lenten campaign today.
Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert, Trocaire chairman, said there were 27 million slaves worldwide, most of them bonded labourers.
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The charity is devoting its annual Lenten fundraising campaign to the cause.
Bishop Kirby said: "Slavery is something we believed was consigned to history - the reality could not be further from the truth."
But he said the number of slaves in the world today is more than twice the number of people taken from Africa during the 400 year transatlantic slave trade.
Bishop Kirby added: "Slaves are cheaper to buy than ever before because of the abundance of poor and desperate people. Poverty, inequality and the lack of law enforcement allows slavery to flourish.
As part of the campaign, 1.3 million Trocaire boxes are being distributed to throughout Ireland for the duration of Lent, from February 28 to April 15.
Over the past 27 years, the charity has raised a total of £70 million during Lent, Trocaire's traditional fundraising period.
A spokesman said there were 10 million bonded labourers in India alone, while women and young girls were forced into the Burmese sex trade. In Sierra Leone, children as young as seven were captured by the army to become child soldiers, he said.
Trocaire also urged the Government to recommend to the International Labour Organisation that an independent assessment of the rate of bonded labour be conducted around the world.
PA