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  • Writer's pictureProfiles in Catholicism
    • Jan 16
    • 20 min read

Human Trafficking


A Message from the Editor

 

Forty million women and children are trafficked each year. Next to child and teen sexual abuse, this is the world’s greatest crime.  There is a crossover to human trafficking since 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.

 

I believe that all of us have a moral obligation to do whatever we can to combat Human Trafficking which scars the souls of those trafficked

for a lifetime. If advocacy to combat Human Trafficking is not possible, make donations to the organizations who help those trafficked, and praying as often as possible end human trafficking. All countries should substantially increase jail time for human traffickers to  a minimum of thirty years.


A Quote to Remember

 

“It is not possible to remain indifferent before the knowledge that human beings are bought and sold like goods! I think of the adoption of children for the extraction of their organs, of women deceived and obliged to prostitute themselves, of workers exploited and denied rights or a voice, and so on. And this is human trafficking. It is precisely on this level that we need to make a good examination of conscience: how many times have we permitted a human being to be seen as an object, to be put on show in order to sell a product or to satisfy an immoral desire? The human person ought never to be sold or bought as if he or she were a commodity. Whoever uses human persons in this way and exploits them, even if indirectly, becomes an accomplice of injustice.”by Pope Francis


Prayers

Prayer to End Human Trafficking 


Lord Jesus, you taught us the value of human life, the dignity of every personYou said, like Isaiah, you came to bring good news to the poor,To set captives free,To lift up the oppressed,To give sight to the blind,May we not be blind but inspired by your words and action,to support the children, and free all the captured slaves,the victims of the people traders bought and sold as objects by thehuman traffickers, may we set them free and end the scourge of human trafficking in your name.Lord Jesus May your spirit be upon us.

Amen

by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism 


Prayer for a Murdered Priest

God of light and mercy,

give your peace and the fullness of life to

Hold in your loving hands

all those whose lives are taken suddenly and violently.

Give us the wisdom and courage

to build bridges of compassion and mercy

and to work to address whatever causes violence and discord.

We pray through Christ, our Lord. Amen

by Father Louis Cameli Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for those who died in the Japan  earthquake

 

Lord Jesus, who stilled the storm and calmed the sea, we pray for those affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, remembering especially those killed in Ishikawa Prefecture. We pray, too, for those who are responding to the crisis and be with them as they show your face to those they help.

In the midst of ongoing aftershocks, we remember those who still live in fear. We ask you to bless the people of Japan and grant them strength in this time of trial.

We pray, too, for the people of other nations in a position to help - that they give generously of their resources.

Lord, hear our prayer.

by Justin Glyn SJ Profiles in Catholicism


A Prayer for the Homeless

Lord, everyone who comes into the world breathes with the breath of your Spirit. Without you, we collapse into nothingness. That makes us all brothers and sisters. We cannot hope to know all of your children, but some of your children we avoid getting to know on purpose. We avert our eyes when we see a sister or brother sitting on a milk carton outside of a store, picking through a trash container, slumbering under a viaduct, in line for a free meal, holding a sign in the middle of a busy intersection, draped over a bench, or just walking with well-worn clothes. These brothers and sisters live with few resources and little security, and so are most vulnerable when disease sweeps through our world. Lord, this pandemic knows no favorites. We are all exposed; but some who die from COVID-19 die with great attention and ceremony; others just disappear. Lord, we pray for all the homeless people who have died of COVID-19. Grant them eternal rest. Even if we don’t know them, you know them

by Father Joseph Chamblain, O.S.M. Profiles in Catholicism


A Prayer for Those Murdered and injured by David Kozak in Prague

 

Good and gracious God,

We come to you, pleading to an end of violence. It is appalling and horrifying. We are sad for the victims, for their families and for all of us who were made aware of this horrifying incident. On a horrifying day in Prague an art student, David Kozak randomly terribly frightened and killed students working on their disciplines. They were on a university balcony. The people in this massacre hung on to parts of the balcony from which they were hanging in hopes their life would be spared. Even more horrifying, the shooter killed the person who bore him and a child in a nearby town. Lord, we know you love us and will never abandon us. Help us to act in a Godlike way in understanding without condemning this person. The gunman searched for his victims on a rooftop as the victims were trying to figure out a way to escape. The gunman finally decided to take his own life inside the University. Lord, we are in pain and hurting for these victims and the repercussions on their families, their community and the Czech Republic.  Help them to heal, dear Lord, and know that we will be with them during this awful, unholy and un-Godlike time.

We know, Lord, that you created us with love and continue to give us love by the beauty of the people we see doing good. Help us to encourage all others to do good and refrain from all violence including thoughts of violence. Help us to bring peace to our lives, our communities and our entire society, through Christ, Our Lord,

Amen

by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

 

Poems

 

When will Justice and Peace come to Palestine?

 

Peace by justice the only rational way to end the killing, calm the hatred,

Listen to the truth, let everyone to have their say.

Stand with the innocent children and the people of the Gaza

their bodies in bags by the hospital lay,

They endure brutal killings, twenty thousands and more are dead.

Civilians, thousands of them children,  many more starving and hardly fed.

They are victims of the land grab, and occupation, are abused and unjustly oppressed,

They are under siege, continual bombardment, suffering deprived and greatly distressed.

The oppressors drove them out by force and stole their land,

For seventy years they are refugees, walled and fenced, imprisoned and more violence planned.

They endure the destruction of their homes, hospitals and injustice without end,

The occupiers provoked a violent and evil response that will not relent or bend.

Atrocities and murders of civilians is evil, wicked and always wrong,

That is not the way to solve historical injustice for 49 years lamented in word and song.

Violence and more killing, more dead above and below the earth,

Will sadly give rise to more resistance, and violence will continue, be aware and alert.

Only dialogue, peace talks for a Palestine, a free nation of their own, then will peace surely come,

let the truth be widely known.

Historical wrongs must be righted, lands returned, compensation paid then will justice be truly done,

when they will have a nation of their own.

by Father Shay Cullen  Profiles in Catholicism


Human Trafficking Interviews


General Interviews


Human Trafficking Articles and Commentaries

General Articles and Commentaries



Medical Journal Articles


          

Book Announcements, Reviews and Commentaries


Film Reviews Commentaries


Television Reviews/Commentaries

Resources 

Videos



New Life at Preda: Resilience and Hope



Human Trafficking Survivors Share Their Stories



Unchained: The Scourge of Human Trafficking



"RUN" - Human Trafficking Awareness


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