Pope: more Church sectors needed
in fight against human traffficking
Pope Francis on 26 September met participants in the general
assembly of Talitha Kum, a worldwide network of religious congregations
fighting against trafficking in human persons. He urged more congregations and
Church sectors to join in this fight .
By Robin Gomes
Pope Francis is urging the collaboration and commitment of
other sectors of the Church in order to make the fight against the scourge of
trafficking in persons more prompt, effective and widespread.
He made the call on Thursday while meeting in the Vatican
some 120 participants in the first general assembly of Talitha Kum, an
international network of consecrated men and women fighting human trafficking.
Talitha Kum is a project of the International Union of
Superiors General (UISG), that brings together the women’s religious
congregations, in collaboration with the men’s Union of Superiors General
(USG).
Notable achievements
The Pope expressed admiration for the impressive achievement
of the initiative that began in 2009 and today includes 52 networks of women’s
congregations active in 92 countries of the world. It includes 2,000 volunteers
who have helped more 15,000 victims and reached out to more than 200,000 people
in prevention and awareness-raising activities.
“The numerous congregations that have worked and are working
in the “forefront” of the Church's missionary action against the scourge of
trafficking in persons,” the Pope said, “deserve gratitude.”
Problems and solutions
He pointed to two main issues that the general assembly is
focussing on. Firstly, great differences, mainly due to socio-cultural factors,
still mark the condition of women in the world. Secondly, the limits of the
neo-liberal development model, with its individualistic vision, risks depriving
the state of responsibility.
The assembly, he noted, is identifying proposals for
solutions, and highlighting the resources needed to implement them. He
appreciated their pastoral planning for a more qualified and fruitful
assistance to the local Churches.
In this regard, he suggested that the "Pastoral
Guidelines on Trafficking in Persons", by the Migrants and Refugees
Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development will
be useful.
Invitation to join in the fight
While encouraging the women’s congregations engaged in the
fight against human trafficking and in assisting the victims, the Pope also
appealed to other congregations, both male and female, to adhere to this
missionary work, putting in their personal service and resources so that they
can reach every place.
The Holy Father urged those congregations preoccupied with
their internal problems, to join the fight against human trafficking saying
their problems will be solved by going out to the streets and letting in fresh
air.
“Considering the scale of challenges posed by human
trafficking,” the Pope said, “it is necessary to promote a synergistic
commitment on the part of the various ecclesial realities.” He
wished the involvement of the local bishops in the planning and pastoral action
of men’s and women’s congregations and Catholic organizations present in their
territory so that the work of the Church is more timely and effective.
However, the Pope stressed that the path of consecrated
life, both feminine and masculine, is the path of ecclesial insertion because
outside the Church and in parallel to the local Church, things don’t work.
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