Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cape Town (Agenzia Fides) - “As the local Church of Cape Town we have a duty to take action.” This was the exhortation made by Archbishop Lawrence Henry of Cape Town (South Africa) to faithful, in asking them to awaken to the reality of the drama lived by millions of people.
Addressing the faithful in a “Letter to raise awareness on human trafficking to all Parishes,” Archbishop Henry defines human trafficking as “an evil in our midst.” In the document, a copy of which was sent to Agenzia Fides, the Archbishop of Cape Town recalls the fact that “over 27 million people were living in forced servitude in 2007. During entire Atlantic Slave Trade, 25 million people were forced into slavery. Today there is an estimate of 12.3 million people that get trafficked annually worldwide.” The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) has even had to establish an office of Counter Trafficking In Persons (CTIP), which recommends the following four steps: prayer, prevention, protection and advocacy.
“As the local Church of Cape Town we have a duty to take action,” Archbishop Henry affirmed. “Central to Jesus’ message is the instruction ‘love your neighbour as yourself’.” The Archbishop notes that “some of our brothers and sisters are tricked into accepting arrangements to be transported to the Mother City with a promise for a job and in-fact are being brought here for other motives such as prostitution, pornography, unpaid domestic work and farm labor etc.”
In order to respond to this situation, Archbishop Henry proposed several guidelines: create awareness of the issue and pray in parishes for the victims of trafficking; welcome strangers and foreigners so that they find a home in the parish community; through Justice & Peace Parish groups advocate for legislation on Human trafficking; Form or join groups to oppose the ‘grooming of young people for the 2010 sex industry,’ taking place as part of 'preparations for the World Cup Tournament to be held in South Africa in 2010.
The Desk in the SACBC that raises awareness on this issue has asked all parishes to say this prayer at the end of the Sunday Masses so that the issue can be given priority....Prayer to End Human Trafficking: “O GOD we cannot express what our minds barely comprehend and our hearts feel when we hear of men, women and children deceived, transported to unknown places for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labour, and abused because of human greed and profit. We can only lift our voices and cry to you, 'strengthen the broken-hearted'.
Our hearts and spirits are saddened when the dignity of all those who are trafficked is violated. Lord 'Heal the broken-hearted'.
Help us stand in solidarity with those trafficked so that together we may find ways to nurture that freedom which you give us all. We will be there howsoever we will be there.” (LM) (Agenzia Fides 6/5/2009)
