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Writer's pictureProfiles in Catholicism
Aug 31, 202329 min read

human trafficking



A Message from the Editor


I only cried once as an adult. I didn’t cry at my Father’s funeral. I didn’t cry and my mother’s funeral, I didn’t cry when I held a dead baby my arms who died from AIDS. But I teared up when I listened to Natalia’s storey of her trafficking through a translator at a homeless shelter in Amsterdam. We must do more to reduce human trafficking such as lifetime in prison for all human traffickers. As Father Alejandro Crosthwaite, O.P. reminds us, we all have mortal responsibility to combat human trafficking.


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A Quote to Remember


Human trafficking an ‘open wound’ in the body of Christ and humanity

by Pope Francis

Prayers


A prayer for the victims of human trafficking:


“Lord, I stood alone”


On the street corner, invisible to everyone except the spying catcher

Who, having gained my confidence, exploited my vulnerability – but

Why did he alone see me and know that I had run away, that my parents were not my parents or maybe one of them was, but that they

Seemed not to care that I was not there and that in the time it took them to report me missing, I was more than missing, miserably alone.

What had I done? Why did nobody care? Was it my fault? Why?

Do these people not have children of their own? Wives? Families?

Lord, you were invisible to me, even though you knew me then – but why were you invisible to me, passive to my abduction, indescribable

Abuse?


The Lord answered on the cross, alone and jerking, uncontrollably, as He climbed to breathe and fell again, powerless on the nails on which

He hung and on which He pushed up, if He could, to breathe again.

And die. Lord, you were alone, your friends deserting you – not even telling the truth about being friends, after which came one who did not ask,

And who suffocated from grief and, we hope, gasped a prayer and died. And those who did ask for forgiveness and

Lived out of love.


But what are my words, swallowed up in an ocean more, millions more, and what are my prayers, muttered, sometimes audibly.

Lord, I want to pray for the exploiters to get their long prison sentences, to experience the pain of knowing what they have done,

To go to the hell they put me through, alone and lonely with others.

But what in the silence of my heart arises is the prayer you made:

“Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do”.

But, Lord, unless you pray this prayer in me I cannot pray it; and, if

I do not pray it, what if one more reaches the undying hell from which

No hope escapes?


So, Lord, let me pray for all, although I cannot hope to pray alone:

Prayer in me, I beg you, that what is hidden will be visible and who is lost will be found and who repents, will be forgiven

by Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism

Francis is the author of 13 books, with 3 more forthcoming in 2023.


FACT SHEET: IDENTIFYING VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING”:


Prayer to End Human Trafficking


Lord Jesus, you taught us the value of human life, the dignity of every person,

You 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 the

human 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 the victims of drowning by human traffickers


You taught us a great truth Lord that the children are the most important of all, you said for us to be with them is to be with you. They are precious and how many perish in the angry seas as migrant boats flee the war in Yemen to Djibouti.

Thrown overboard by human traffickers. Such evil criminals must be held accountable and those making war in Yemen.

The lives of 27 , Lord Jesus, were lost Sixteen children, women left to drown all because of human greed the root of so much evil.

Lord may your words and example inspire good people in the international community to be united in ending the horrific war and uses their power and intervention to bring a ceasefire and make peace. The lives of starving children will be saved. Amen by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer to End Human Trafficking


O Lord, you said you came: “to set the captives free.” In our world young men and women who are trafficked are modern-day slaves. Help these young people not to lose hope. Give the grace for elected officials to grow in awareness of and to take active steps to eradicate this horror. Teach them not to prosecute the victims of trafficking but to bring to justice those who perpetrate this crime. Lord, give the grace of conversion to those who mistreat unfortunates for their own personal gain. May demand decrease as people realize that prostitution is a crime against human dignity, forced upon these people, who are more victim than anything else. May the awareness of this horrendous crime spread throughout the world and may many join the efforts to stop trafficking and help the victims begin anew, filled with hope.

We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

by Sr. Veronica Piccone, MSC


Prayer for Those Who Died in the Maui fires


God of all life, receive the souls of those who perished in Maui God of all consolation, comfort the sorrowing and those who grieve the loss of loved ones. God of all strength, give courage to the people of Maui to rebuild and renew their lives. God of all love, gather us now as one ohana, one family caring for one another. Amen by Father Louis Cameli Profiles in Catholicism


A Prayer for the Children of Sudan Who Starved to Death


Good and Gentle Jesus,

We bring you our prayer this evening for the needs of the children in Sudan We know many children are in need of food and even the food for the Save My Children cause has been raided and stolen in the amount of $14 million.

"We never thought we would see so many children starving in Sudan, but this has become a reality today. Seriously ill children arrive in the arms of desperate mothers and fathers in nutrition centers across the country, and our staff have few options to treat them. We see children dying from avoidable hunger," said Arif Noor, Save the Children's Country Director in Sudan. Jesus, hear our prayer as you know these children are innocent and are pleading for what they need to live. You watch over them carefully and know what is best for them. Open your heart to their needs and fill their stomachs with the food they need to live.

Supplies of medical food are running low in the 108 Save the Children centers that are still open, and emergency supplies are now being used in the most severe cases. Let us all respond to the needs of these children who know of your love and care. Let them realize that the evil of stealing food can be overcome by the will and desire of communities to assist in getting the food that was unfortunately stolen. We ask you to put love in the hearts of those who have given in the past and ask them to give again so these innocent children can be taken care of. We ask you this Lord, in the name of the Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit.

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


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