Italian
Human trafficking is one of the most terrible and economically advantageous trades globally, along with arms and drug trafficking. For this reason, Pope Francis, in the Message spread on February 4, on the occasion of the eleventh “World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking,” asks all of us with determination to be courageous “Ambassadors of hope: together against human trafficking.”
VATICAN CITY. The Message is also an appeal that the Pope wants to resonate throughout the world: “In this Jubilee year, let us walk together, as ‘pilgrims of hope,’ also on the path of combating human trafficking.”
“But how is it possible to continue to nurture hope in the face of the millions of people, especially women and children, young people, migrants, and refugees, trapped in this modern slavery? Where to always draw new momentum to counteract the trafficking of human organs and tissues, the sexual exploitation of children, forced labor, including prostitution, drug trafficking, and arms trafficking?” Questions to keep in mind every day so as not to turn away from horror that breaks the heart.
One can find the energy to respond to this call by “lifting one’s gaze to Christ, our hope,” and in this way, we can “find the strength for a renewed commitment that is not overcome by the dimension of problems and dramas, but in the darkness works to ignite flickers of light, which united can illuminate the night until dawn breaks,” as Francis reminds us in the Message. The example of how to move from darkness to light is offered by “young people around the world who fight against trafficking: they tell us that we must become ambassadors of hope and act together, with tenacity and love; that we must stand alongside the victims and survivors.” And it is “with the help of God” that “we can avoid becoming accustomed to injustice, resist the temptation to think that certain phenomena cannot be eradicated.”
During the week of prayer against human trafficking (which runs from February 2nd to 8th), in addition to the Pope’s Message, we also commemorate the liturgical memory of Saint Josephine Bakhita on February 8th. Josephine Bakhita was born in Sudan in 1869 and died in Schio, in the province of Vicenza, Italy, in 1947. She is remembered as the “African flower”. Saint Josephine experienced the tragedy of kidnapping and slavery as a child. Once freed, she wonderfully opened herself to grace alongside the Daughters of Charity of Canossa in Italy.
She lived in Schio for many years where everyone still calls her “our Mother Moretta”. On February 7th, the Pope received the international group “Talitha Kum” thanking the entire network for the work it carries out against trafficking – following in the footsteps of Sister Bakhita – and congratulated in a special way the young ambassadors against trafficking who, with creativity and energy, always find new ways to raise awareness and inform.
He also encouraged all the organizations in this network and all individuals who are part of it to continue joining forces, placing victims and survivors at the center, listening to their stories, taking care of their wounds, and amplifying their voices. The example that gives heart and movement to this work is precisely that of Giuseppina Bakhita. The Saint teaches that one must work tirelessly to break the chains of human trafficking and create a world without slavery by “globalizing fraternity.”
In his Message against trafficking, the Pope also recalled that “the Spirit of the Risen Lord sustains us in promoting, with courage and effectiveness, targeted initiatives to weaken and counteract the economic and criminal mechanisms that profit from trafficking and exploitation.” There is no doubt that “trafficking is a complex phenomenon, constantly evolving, and is fueled by wars, conflicts, famines, and the consequences of climate change.”
Therefore, it requires global responses and a common effort at all levels to counteract it.” Hence, Francis’s invitation to everyone and in particular “to the representatives of governments and organizations that share this commitment, to join us, inspired by prayer, to promote initiatives in defense of human dignity, for the elimination of human trafficking in all its forms, and for the promotion of peace in the world.” Trusting in the intercession of Saint Bakhita, “we can make a great effort and create the conditions for human trafficking and exploitation to be banned, and for the respect of fundamental human rights to always prevail, in the fraternal recognition of our common humanity,” said the Pope, concluding his Message.
