Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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Chaos in Shelters for Ukrainian Refugees Increases the Risk of Human Trafficking

~ Elisabeth Auvillain for Global Sisters Report (GSR)

Sr. Imelda Poole has been fighting human trafficking for years and now is increasingly worried about the situation in Ukraine.

“There has been an explosion of child trafficking in the world in recent years because of increasing poverty,” she told GSR. “And now, the risks are enormous in Ukraine because war situations make it easier for international and local gangs to find prey.”

Poole is a member of the Loreto Sisters and President of Religious in Europe Networking Against Trafficking and Exploitation (RENATE), a non-governmental organization that combats human trafficking in 31 European countries.

Millions of Ukrainians have left their homes, fleeing bombings and destruction. After a month of fighting, about 3 million of them have crossed the borders, mostly into Poland. About as many have been displaced within their country, going west where the fighting has been less intense. Thousands are waiting in underground shelters, hoping for a ride to safety as soon as possible.

“The situation is dire in shelters. Food is scarce. Hygiene is very bad. Such chaos is welcomed by gangs of traffickers, who prey on the most vulnerable: isolated children or young people,” said Poole.

It did not take long for gangs, local as well as international, to mingle in the crowd and offer false promises of help. Traffickers know refugees are desperate to go to a safer place. They are quick to offer a ride over the border to people who are desperate to leave. This is where the danger lies.

Soon after the war broke out, humanitarian aid agencies started to distribute leaflets to refugees gathered in shelters to warn them of human trafficking. The paper tells refugees what to do before agreeing to a ride to the border with Poland or Romania, the two main countries where Ukrainians seek refuge, along with Hungary and
Slovakia.

“Never hand out your passport to someone who promises you a ride. Take a picture of the license plate of the van you get on and tell someone that you are going in it and where you are going” are some of the tips printed on the leaflets. If offered accommodations, make sure to tell someone you know, where you are. Aid workers also watch out for people acting in a suspicious manner and report them to the police.

“Drug trafficking doesn’t bring as much money as it used to. Arms trafficking is also not so lucrative anymore, so traffickers are now focusing on human trafficking,” said Sr. Poole.

“Children are bought online,” she added, “they become sex slaves or are forced to work for free.”

“The world is demanding cheap labor, cheap sex. Traffickers know that wars give them opportunities. Their only aim is greed; they have absolutely no ethics. And criminals often get away with it,” she said.

Caritas Internationalis and other humanitarian groups present in Ukraine have joined forces to help refugees. The situation in Ukraine is chaotic, and UNICEF, the United Nations Children Fund, is also warning about people eager to help, saying that rules have to be followed to protect children.

“There is real chaos in humanitarian refugee centers with volunteers who are not under the auspices of any qualified agency. They just wear a badge and a yellow vest and they are seen as volunteers. This is irresponsible,” said Alice Barbe, a spokeswoman for Corridor Citoyen, to ensure safe passage to France. To read the complete account please click here To access the MSC Corporate Stance and information on Trafficking please click here and here

Artist hopes New Sculpture Can Spotlight Sisters’ Work Fighting Human Trafficking

~ by Christopher White, Global Sisters Report

Pope Francis has said that human trafficking is a modern form of human slavery, and he has been critical of governments, business leaders, and those in civil society who turn a blind eye to it.

Now, Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz is hoping his new sculpture will help put a spotlight on an issue he believes too many individuals and governments would prefer to look away from. And on Sunday, February 6, the pope offered his blessing – both to the sculpture and to the religious sisters on the front lines leading the fight against human trafficking.

The design for the sculpture is inspired, in part, by the work of the 19th- century Canossian religious sister, now Saint Josephine Bakhita, who hailed from the Darfur region of Sudan and was kidnapped by traffickers at age 9. Upon becoming free, she entered religious life and committed herself to caring for the poor and destitute. She is the patron saint of human trafficking victims and survivors.

The bronze statue design – which will eventually have permanent homes in both Rome and the United States – depicts Bakhita opening up the gates of the underworld and allowing those enslaved by trafficking to be set free. More than 50 individuals represent a range of trafficking victims – including a child bride, young beggars, an individual trafficking for their organs, both men and women enslaved in prostitution.

Schmalz told Global Sisters Report he hopes the sculpture, titled, “Let the Oppressed Go Free,” will become a “weapon of awareness.”
“Thank you for your courage,” the pope said to the religious sisters present with a 10-foot bronze model of the statue in St. Peter’s Square during his remarks after the Sunday Angelus.

Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita – International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking

The Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita on the 8th of February each year, her life was a journey from slavery to freedom and faith. The patron saint of Sudan, her life story inspires hope in the face of modern day indifference and exploitation.

As Pope Francis states: “She is charged with showing to all the path to conversion, which enables us to change the way we see our neighbors, to recognize in every other person a brother or sister in our human family and to acknowledge his or her intrinsic dignity in truth and freedom. This saint, who lived at the turn of the twentieth century, is even today an exemplary witness of hope for the many victims of slavery; she can support the efforts of all those committed to fighting against this ‘open wound on the body of contemporary society.’” Pope Francis on the Celebration of the World Day of Peace 2015

Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.

Historians believe that sometime in February 1877, Josephine was kidnapped by Arab slave traders. Although she was just a child she was forced to walk barefoot over 600 miles to a slave market. She was bought and sold at least twice during the grueling journey.
For the next 12 years she would be bought and sold and given away over a dozen times. She spent so much time in captivity that she forgot her original name.

As a slave, her treatment was cruel with several owners. She was sold to the Italian Vice Consul, Callisto Legani. He was kind to her. When it was time for him to return to Italy, she begged to be taken with him and he agreed.

After a long journey back to Italy, Legani gave her away to another family as a gift and she served them as a nanny. This new family had dealings in Sudan and when her mistress decided to travel to Sudan without Josephine, she place her in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice. While with the Sisters she came to know about God.

When the mistress returned from Sudan, Josephine refused to leave the Sisters. This caused the Superior of the Institute for baptismal candidates among the sisters to complain to Italian authorities on Josephine’s behalf.

The case went to court, and the court found that slavery had been outlawed in Sudan before Josephine was born, so she could not be lawfully made a slave. She was declared free.

For the first time in her life, Josephine was free and could choose her own path. She chose to remain with the Canossian Sisters.

She was baptized in 1890 and three years later became a novice with the Canossian Daughters of Charity and took her final vows in 1896. For the next 42 years, she worked as a cook and doorkeeper at the convent. She was known for her gentle voice and smile.

She died on February 8, 1947. She was canonized by Saint Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000. She is the patron saint of Sudan.

To read the full account, please click here

The International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking

This Day of Prayer is held on February 8th each year. In addition to prayer, the day is a call to action:

“Our awareness must expand and extend to the very depths of this evil and its farthest reaches…from awareness to prayer…from prayer to solidarity…and from solidarity to concerted action, until slavery and trafficking are no more,” says Cardinal Peter Turkson.

In this sense another goal of the day is to encourage people to act and to take concrete steps to help eradicate slavery and trafficking. Indeed, an essential part of freedom is our ongoing effort to ensure it is woven into the fabric of our society.
To access resources for the International Day of Prayer, please click here

To access the Corporate Stance of the Missionary Sisters, please click here  

 

Awareness and Advocacy re: Human Trafficking

Cabrini High School, New Orleans, took the week of January 10-14 to highlight National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. In solidarity with Mother Cabrini’s Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, each day began with prayers for an end to this sinful tragedy. Facts about human trafficking and how we can advocate and fight against it were highlighted daily. The week culminated in a dress-up day, where students raised funds for the anti-trafficking efforts of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the Cabrini Mission Foundation.

Join Catholic Sisters in Praying and Working to End Human Trafficking


~ by Gail DeGeorge, Global Sisters Report

The fight against human trafficking continues, 15 years after the United States designated January 11 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in 2007, and January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month in 2010.

Catholic sisters around the world are deeply committed to ending the scourge of modern-day slavery. Through regional organizations, such as the U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking and Rome-based Talitha Kum, initiated by the International Union of Superiors General as a “network of networks” active in five continents coordinating efforts of congregations in 60 or more networks, sisters work to raise awareness, aid and rehabilitate victims, and lobby for stricter laws and enforcement.
The Global Sisters Report (GRS) reflects these efforts in their coverage of sisters’ ministries and work related to human trafficking. They also take opportunities to help raise awareness through other venues. The GSR in the Classroom curriculum, for instance, offers six lessons about human trafficking. GSR correspondent Soli Salgado, who has reported extensively about human trafficking, produced a special video presentation for the annual California Ministry Conference Hope, Heal, Renew, sponsored by eight dioceses and archdioceses from California, Nevada and Hawaii. The 2021 conference was a virtual gathering held November. 4-6.
The hourlong segment, entitled, “Migrating Toward Exploitation: Why Migrants Are Susceptible to Human Trafficking, and How Sisters Are Helping,” featured an explanatory introduction, plus interviews with Sr. Sally Duffy, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati who is involved with migration and trafficking issues, and Jennifer Reyes Lay, executive director of U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking.

There are also other official days to commemorate trafficking victims and efforts to raise awareness and stop human trafficking. February 8 is the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was born in Sudan and sold into slavery and taken to Italy where she eventually joined the Canossian Sisters. February 8 is a World Day of Prayer, Reflection, and Action against Human Trafficking, designated by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Union of Superiors General. The theme for this year’s day of prayer is “The Power of Care – Women, Economics, Human Trafficking.”

In addition, the United Nations observes the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30.

While much of the attention of anti-trafficking is on women and children who are trafficked and abused, there is also growing attention to the labor trafficking and workers who are exploited.

There can never be enough attention to the issue of human trafficking, or the efforts by Catholic sisters and others to help women, children and vulnerable adults avoid becoming victims of trafficking, or assisting those who are already caught in the trap. So, this day, this month, February 8th and every day take time to pray and add your efforts to the cause to stop human trafficking.
To read the complete article, please click here

The Missionary Sisters of the Guadalupe Province have a Corporate Stance on Human Trafficking.
To learn more please click here and here to download a PDF of the Corporate Stance brochure.

VOICES for the VOICELESS

On Monday, November 15, not even the cold, blustery weather could dampen the Cabrini spirit. Students from Cabrini University’s ECG 200, Voices for the Voiceless class, spoke during a walk throughout campus where a number of “stations” were designated that focused on different topics around human trafficking. Many sports teams’ members and their coaches attended, as well as, other students, staff and friends from the University. Many of these students will engage with human trafficking victims through their future careers and may be the first contact victims have. They will know the signs to recognize victims and know what to do about it. Our students have pledged to continue raising awareness and educate everyone they can to be part of ending human trafficking.
~Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition and ECG 200 Voice for Voiceless-Anti-Human Trafficking Class

World Trafficking Day

Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims. Traffickers the world over continue to target women and girls. The poor and the vulnerable are most at risk. The vast majority of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and 35 per cent of those trafficked for forced labor are female. Conflict further exacerbates vulnerabilities, with armed groups exploiting civilians and traffickers targeting forcibly displaced people.

COVID-19 has amplified trafficking dangers. Loss of jobs, growing poverty, school closures and a rise in online interactions are increasing vulnerabilities and opening up opportunities for organized crime groups.

The crisis has overwhelmed social and public services, impacted the work of law enforcement and criminal justice systems, and made it harder for victims to seek help.

And yet in these difficult times, we see the best of humanity: frontline heroes, men and women risking their lives and going above and beyond to provide essential support for human trafficking victims.

The United Nation’s announced this year’s theme for the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons highlights the importance of listening to and learning from survivors of human trafficking. Survivors are key actors in the fight against human trafficking. They play a crucial role in establishing effective measures to prevent this crime, identifying and rescuing victims and supporting them on their road to rehabilitation.

Many victims of human trafficking have experienced ignorance or misunderstanding in their attempts to get help. They have had traumatic post-rescue experiences during identification interviews and legal proceedings. Some have faced revictimization and punishment for crimes they were forced to commit by their traffickers. Others have been subjected to stigmatization or received inadequate support.

Learning from victims’ experiences and turning their suggestions into concrete actions will lead to a more victim-centered and effective approach in combating human trafficking.

U.S. Church Missing Opportunity to Add ‘People on the Move’ to their Flock

~ by Mark Pattison, Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON – With upward of 70 million Catholics in the United States, one might think the U.S. church would have its hands full tending to their pastoral needs. And, that may be so.

There are millions of others in this country for whom a fixed address is less of an expectation than an aspiration. They include refugees, migrants, people whose work demands that they travel, and victims of human trafficking. That doesn’t even count the 79 million international visitors to the United States in a typical year.

The U.S. Catholic Church, though, may be missing out on an opportunity to increase its ranks if dioceses and parishes don’t reach out to these groups. The Census Bureau’s General Social Survey estimates that of all foreign-born residents of the United States, 40% are Catholic, nearly double Catholicism’s reach in the entire U.S. populations.

The U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers commissioned the Center or Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) in Washington to learn about the scope of such outreach efforts. The result is a report titled, “The Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers: Worship Site Inventory and Demographic Study” which was issued in June.

One trend that was noted is that there is a real gap between what the diocese self-reports and what the research indicates.

Migrant and refugee groups often go unnoticed by local parishes and diocese. At least that is what the data may suggest,” said Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington, chair of the subcommittee. “There may not be a felt imperative to go out greet and meet. Many parishes may simply be waiting (for them) to show up and many may not be attitudinally prepared to reach out to new arrivals who are Catholic.”

He added, “What might be notable is where people are moving. Note the metropolitan areas where folks are moving. The diocesan surveys when compared with the census data may suggest a need for more intentional outreach for families moving from one part of the country to another.

“Often these folks may be more affluent families moving around due to their corporation, their profession or work,” Tyson said.

The CARA survey asked about resources and best practices.

The Diocese of Austin, Texas, replied with a best practice – the “Our Kids at Heart” initiative, a tuition support program with the objective to inspire hope and transform lives, and make stronger families and communities through Catholic education for Hispanic youth.

Asked to share one pastoral resource that could be emulated elsewhere, the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, replied that “through the Humanitarian Respite Center,” the diocese “is answering the call to care and restore human dignity to individuals upon their release from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention centers seeking refuge or asylum.”

Asked to share an educational resource: the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, replied: “In nine parishes, Hispanic immigrant families have been integrated to their parishes through a program named Parent Leadership Formation. This program is offered in the setting of small communities of support that allows them to share their lives, their immigrants’ difficulties and parental challenges, and to enlighten them with the Gospel.”

Bishop Tyson, asked, “Are we missionary? Are we reaching only the people who pass through the doors of the church, or are we finding the folks that are already there.”

When Pope Francis speaks of a missionary option, he said, “that missionary option is to go out of ourself. If people don’t come into the church, we go out to them. …It really requires a shift in attitude and understanding” with the parish becoming a “mission center,” Tyson said.

“We’re distracted with whatever’s in front on our plate, but there’s some deeper mission questions that are going on. It’s a tough one. This was started before COVID. Nobody knew COVID was going to erupt and we finished this study during COVID. A lot of us are thinking about how we bring people back to church.”

Tyson, who earlier this year spent time with a priest and diocesan seminarians in migrant worker dorms in Yakima, said that “there’s some good things going on” in ministry outreach but “there’s a long journey ahead.” To read the complete article, please click here

Human Trafficking Awareness Walk at Cabrini University

We are very proud of and grateful for the students of Cabrini University’s ECG 200, Voices for the Voiceless class. They helped organize a Human Trafficking Awareness walk at Cabrini University on April 26 and had “stations” where they shared much info on Human Trafficking. Guilherme “G” Lopes, Campus Ministry, gave the reflection and closing prayer by Sr. Veronica Piccone, MSC. The entire Cabrini U. men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, as well as, field hockey team members were in attendance and were joined by many other students and staff from the University community.

The “station speakers” reported that they have learned so much about Human Trafficking from this class and that their efforts will not end when they graduate! They will continue to due be part of ending human trafficking. What wonderful examples they are of Cabrini University’s theme, “Live with Purpose”!

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