VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has created a set of pastoral guidelines to inspire and improve the church's work in addressing the crime of human trafficking and the care of its victims worldwide.
The Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting
Integral Human Development released its "Pastoral Orientations on Human
Trafficking" Jan. 17 at a Vatican news conference.
"Pope Francis' insistent teaching on human trafficking
provides the foundation for the present pastoral orientations which draw also
from the longstanding practical experience of many international Catholic NGOs
working in the field and from the observations of representatives of bishops'
conferences," the text said.
"While approved by the Holy Father, the orientations do not
pretend to exhaust the church's teaching on human trafficking; rather, they
provide a series of key considerations that may be useful to Catholics and
others in their pastoral ministry, in planning and practical engagement, in
advocacy and dialogue," it said.
The Migrants and Refugees Section also released a separate
publication, "Lights on the Ways of Hope," which compiles Pope
Francis' teachings on migrants, refugees and human trafficking.
"Its purpose is similar to that of the 'Compendium of the
Social Doctrine of the Church,' to serve one and all as an instrument for the
moral and pastoral discernment of the complex events" concerning the
movements of people today, and as "a guide to inspire" people to look
to the future with hope, the book's introduction said.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge released a statement on the
guidelines. “I pray that this resource will increase the awareness of the
faithful of the presence of grave offenses to human life and dignity, sometimes
even in our own communities,” he wrote. “I also hope that it will encourage
those persons who locally and nationally are dedicated to eradicating these
evils in our society.”
The nearly 500-page volume collects more than 300 complete or
excerpted speeches, messages and reflections by the pope on the three themes.
Additionally, the collection is available online at
https://migrants-refugees.va/resource-center/collection/ with a robust search engine
to help people who are looking to study more in-depth what the pope has said,
Scalabrinian Father Fabio Baggio, the section's undersecretary, said at the
news conference.
While the printed volume compiles Pope Francis' teachings from
2013 to the end of 2017 in Italian and English, the online version will offer
other languages and be updated with more recent talks by Pope Francis as well
as the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II on migrants,
refugees and human trafficking, said Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, the
section's other undersecretary.
While the collected teachings offer a more academic service, the
pastoral guidelines on human trafficking have the specific aim of inspiring
action, aiding current efforts and reaching the long-term goal "to prevent
and ultimately dismantle this most evil and sinful enterprise of deception,
entrapment, domination and exploitation," Father Czerny said.
The International Labor Organization estimates there are more
than 40 million victims of human trafficking around the world. It estimates 81
percent of victims are trapped in forced labor, 25 percent are children and 75
percent are women and girls. It also estimates that the trafficking of human
beings for forced labor or sexual exploitation generates $150 billion a year,
making it the third-largest crime industry in the world behind drugs and arms
trafficking.
The complex and global nature of human trafficking requires a
global and multidisciplinary response, the guidelines said.
"The booklet will help the church play its important role in
this struggle," Father Czerny said, also announcing his office will host a
three-day conference in April at the Vatican to discuss implementing the
guidelines.
Read the document
The 40-page booklet is available at migrants-refugees.va/resource-center/documents/
in formats suitable for professional reprints or for sharing
online.