"Even if we try to ignore it, slavery is not something of other times," Pope Francis clearly stated in the monthly video addressed to the Pope's World Prayer Network.
"Faced with this tragic reality," the Pontiff continues, "no one can wash his hands if he does not want to be, in some way, an accomplice of this crime against humanity. We cannot ignore that slavery exists in the world today, as much or perhaps more than before. We pray for the generous reception of victims of trafficking in persons, forced prostitution and violence."
The testimonies of those who have been victims of the trafficking of people report unimaginable deceits, coercion and suffering. "Their stories show concretely what can be stolen from a human life for the pleasure or profit of others. It is something inconceivable until you hear from a victim, from a survivor, what happened to him or her," said yesterday, in a press conference, Fr Michael Czerny, SI, Under-Secretary of the Department of Migrants and Refugees of the Dicastery for the Integral Human Development Service.
Among the first and most effective organizations of solidarity active in this field is the Talitha Kum network, "nuns, who work in the network, calmly and quietly" still using the words of Fr Czerny.
Talitha Kum celebrates its 10th anniversary of activities this year. Today the network is engaged in activities of prevention, awareness raising, protection, partnership and prayer in 76 countries on 5 continents: 13 in Africa, 13 in Asia, 17 in America, 31 in Europe, 2 in Oceania and in the world there are, in total, 150 operational groups of Talitha Kum networks.
The name chosen for this year's World Day is "Together against trafficking": only through joint work can those who exploit the "dream" of thousands of people trying to improve their living conditions be countered.
To act also through prayer, the organizers of the day send a specific prayer:
St. Josephine Bakhita, you were sold into slavery
as a child
and endured untold hardship and suffering.
Once liberated from your physical enslavement,
you found true redemption in your encounter with
Christ and his Church.
O St. Bakhita, assist all those who are trapped in a
state of slavery;
Intercede with God on their behalf
so that they will be released from their chains
of captivity.
Those whom man enslaves, let God set free.
Provide comfort to survivors of slavery
and let them look to you as an example of hope
and faith.
Help all survivors find healing from their wounds.
We ask for your prayers and intercessions for
those enslaved among us.
Further information at: https://migrants-refugees.va
