Martin FoleyAbout 50 million people are enslaved today".A week of mobilization and prayer against human trafficking was celebrated internationally from February 2 to 8. This event was established on February 8, 2015 by Pope Francis on the feast of St. Bakhita, a Sudanese nun who was a victim of trafficking and a universal symbol of the Church's commitment against this scourge.
"Walking for dignity."
With the slogan "Walking for dignity. To listen. Dream. Act", the 10th World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking brought together 50 young people from all continents in Rome.
Among the initiatives, which began in Rome on February 2, participants attended the Angelus in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, February 4. In addition, on Tuesday, February 6, there was a flash-mob against trafficking in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, which culminated in an ecumenical vigil in the church of the same name.
Yesterday, Wednesday 7, the participants attended the audience with Pope Francis, and today the week closes with a pilgrimage. As in recent years, a message from Pope Francis on trafficking is expected.
"This initiative was born from the heart of the Pope."
Omnes had the opportunity to speak with Msgr. Marco Gnavi, pastor of the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, of the Community of Sant'Egidio, and head of the Office and of the Diocesan Commission for Ecumenism, who indicated that this initiative "was born first of all in the heart of the Pope", because "he is concerned about this theme in a viscerally evangelical way". "Let us try to be - together with him - repeaters of his voice, of this revolution of tenderness that is also measured against evil," Gnavi added.
Moreover, the pastor explains that this initiative "has found strong support and synergy in the Dicastery for Integral Development, in the international network Talitha Kum and in many other associations", and that "above all, it gathers a great hope for liberation, because when we speak in particular of the trafficking of women, this humiliates and wounds them, sometimes indelibly, but also debases the humanity of which they are bearers".
"Trafficking occurs in all contexts."
Monsignor Gnavi then pointed out that "they often have to be rescued very discreetly, because the structures of evil are powerful and aggressive", and that "trafficking occurs in all contexts", without forgetting that many of these "humiliated women arrive in Italy under blackmail" or that later "they painfully discover that they have been captured, by the designs of evil".
The parish priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere underscored other similar phenomena: for example, "child labor, prisons where minors, the weakest, are abandoned. Moreover, there are regions of the world where they are put in prison along with adults and then no one remembers they exist, because they do not even have the right to a civil registry, they are nothing to the world".
"Today," Don Marco acknowledges, "there is a greater awareness of the dignity of women, but at the same time the world is becoming more brutal than yesterday. Because every conflict - even the third world war in pieces - brings with it obscenities and monstrosities. And we must not let our guard down, because in times of conflict everything becomes licit."
Don Marco concluded by pointing out that Talitha Kum, the Dicastery and all the associations that have come together, have thought of a meeting, a journey, a pilgrimage, which in itself does not end in a week.
Collaborating entities
The day, supported by the Global Solidarity Fund (GSF), is coordinated by Talitha Kum, an international anti-trafficking network of more than 6,000 nuns, friends and partners, and is promoted by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) and the Union of Superiors General (USG).
Collaborating in the initiative are the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, the Dicastery for Communication, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, Caritas Internationalis, CoatNet, the Focolare Movement, the Jesuit Refugee Service, the International Union of Catholic Women's Associations (WUCWO), JPIC-Anti-Trafficking Working Group (UISG/UISG), The Clever Initiative, the Pope John XXIII Community Association, the International Federation of Catholic Action, the Italian Catholic Association of Guides and Scouts (Agesci), the Santa Marta Group and many other organizations around the world.
