A prayer vigil takes place in Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran on the evening of February 8 to mark the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking that takes place, this year, on the theme “Together against Human trafficking”. The vigil is officiated by Fr Michael Czerny and Fr Fabio Baggio, Under-Secretaries of the Migrants & Refugees Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
As reported by Vatican news, Jesuit Father Michael Czerny remarked that “The question is: what can you and I do to help alleviate human trafficking?” Pointing out that this is the core question behind the World Day of Awarness and Prayer, Fr. Czerny notes that the testimonies of survivors describe the “unimaginable deception, coercion and suffering” they have been through and witness to “what can be stolen from a human life for the pleasure and profit of others”. “It is inconceivable – until you listen to a survivor – how it happened to him or to her,” he says. “At the heart of each survivor’s story is the inviolable, sacred dignity of every human person,” he says, concluding that “at the heart of each survivor’s liberation is the solidarity of others.”
People are also gathering across the world in prayer and observance of the Day which was established by His Holiness Pope Francis in 2015, marking the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery in her home country of Sudan. She gained her freedom in Italy, became a Canossian Sister, and dedicated her life to helping the poor and testifying against slavery.
