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Women religious, shareholders raise awareness about child sexual exploitation during the Super Bowl January 31st, 2012

Building off of last year’s successful campaign, Celebration without Exploitation, members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) are once again coordinating with local law enforcement to raise awareness of the risks of child sex trafficking during the Super Bowl.

While football fans pour into Indiana next week to cheer for their favorite teams, traffickers in the sex trade are gearing up for their most profitable weekend of the year. Because trafficking is reported to peak at large sporting events and hotels are the prime venue for prostitution, shareholders have initiated a multi-pronged campaign to keep hotels trafficking-free during Super Bowl weekend and beyond.

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Stop Trafficking! January 17th, 2012

This latest issue of the newsletter Stop Trafficking! has good descriptions of the California Supply Chain Act, as well as information about actions being taken around the Super Bowl. Stop Trafficking! is made possible through the supportive sponsorship of national and international congregations of women religious and their partners.

Read the January 2012 issue

 

Papal Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees January 12th, 2012

World Day of Migrants and Refugees is January 15th

Copies of the Pope’s message, entitled ‘Migration and New Evangelization’, can be accessed in English, Spanish, French and Italian. Click on the links to access the documents:

• English
• Spanish 
• French
• Italian 

January 11, 2012 — Human Trafficking Awareness Day January 5th, 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 is Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the U.S., thanks to passage of a resolution by the Senate on June 22, 2007 making January 11th a day of awareness and vigilance for the countless victims of Human Trafficking around the world.

Human Trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, and forceful detention of people either from one country to another, or within countries. Threats, force and/or deception are typical. Those being exploited are either unpaid, or given a very small payment for their work, prostitution or other sexual exploitation, and are not free to leave these abusive situations. Each year, there are between 600,000 and 800,000 people trafficked across borders throughout the world. There are many more trafficked within countries as well. The United States is not immune to this problem; Many are trafficked within U.S. borders, as well as into the U.S. from outside.

Human Trafficking is rapidly growing, despite the efforts of many to control it. Wherever there is poverty, war, flood, famine, or any kind of upheaval, unscrupulous people prey on the vulnerable. Women and children are especially affected, but many men are as well.

Many of us are unaware of the number of slaves (yes, slaves) we use to maintain our lifestyles. Go to www.slaveryfootprint.org for a series of questions that will show how many slaves it takes to maintain the way you live.

For ideas on what to do, check out the website for Breaking the Snares – A resource for parishes to use in combating Human Trafficking by the Sisters of the Divine Savior; see their parish resource.

In addition, explore the following:

• Stop Trafficking Newsletter and other resources: http://www.stopenslavement.org/archive.htm#handouts
• End Child Prostitution and Trafficking: www.ecpat.net (Website also available in French and Spanish)
• Google The Dark Side of Chocolate to find several sites that show how children in Africa are involved in the chocolate that is so available to us.

If you suspect someone may be a victim of human trafficking call: Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline 1-888-373-7888

 

National Migration Week January 5th, 2012

A reminder that National Migration Week will be observed in dioceses around the country January 8-14. This year’s theme, “Welcoming Christ in the Migrant,” and the artistic renderings in the week’s materials depict the disciples welcoming a stranger on the road to Emmaus.

“Just as on the road to Emmaus, Christ’s disciples met him in the guise of a stranger, this year’s theme helps remind us that Christ makes himself present to each of us in the lonesome traveler, the newcomer, and the migrant,” said Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles. “We are called to open our hearts and provide hospitality to those in need, especially for migrants who find themselves far away from home and in vulnerable situations.” Archbishop Gomez is the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration.

Resources for National Migration Week can be found on the USCCB website. Posters, prayer cards and booklets can be ordered through the USCCB publishing service or by calling 800-235-8722.

Additionally, the U.S. bishops continue to encourage advocacy efforts by the Catholic community on comprehensive immigration reform. Visit the Justice for Immigrants Campaign website for more information.

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI also unveiled the theme for the 98th World Day of Migrants and Refugees to be celebrated January 15, 2012: “Migration and the New Evangelization.” In his message the pope says that the present time calls upon the Church to intensify its missionary activity both in the regions where the Gospel is proclaimed for the first time and in countries with a Christian tradition.

“Proclaiming Jesus Christ the one Savior of the world ‘constitutes the essential mission of the Church’ … Today we feel the urgent need to give a fresh impetus and new approaches to the work of evangelization in a world in which the breaking down of frontiers and the new processes of globalization are bringing individuals and peoples even closer,” said Pope Benedict.

Internal or international migration, in search of better living conditions or to flee from the threat of persecution, war and violence, has led to an unprecedented mingling of individuals and peoples, with new problems not only from the human standpoint but also from ethical, religious and spiritual ones, the pope said. And, he added, “Christian communities are to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity, as well as by fostering new political, economic and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person.” World Day of Migrants and Refugees was instituted by Pope Pius X in 1914.

Pope Benedict’s message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2012 can be found in the Vatican website (click here)

Catholic Sisters launch billboard campaign for immigration reform December 22nd, 2011

Ten communities of Catholic Sisters based in the Upper Mississippi River Valley have launched a public awareness campaign called: “Welcoming Communities.” The campaign is to insure that delegates to the Iowa caucuses, potential candidates and voters remember the critical issue of comprehensive immigration reform. The campaign is calling also the White House and U.S. Congress to work together to enact immigration reform.

The billboards with the message, “I was a stranger an immigrant and you welcomed me” are being posted on December 12 and will remain up through early January 2012. The message, based on the words of Jesus, is taken from the Gospel of Matthew.

“We declare ourselves ‘Welcoming Communities’ in affirmation of our Catholic tradition that holds sacred the dignity of each person,” the Sisters said in their statement, “and we invite other communities and people of faith to join us in becoming ‘Immigrant Welcoming Communities’ through prayer, reflection, education and action.”

For more information visit, http://www.clintonfranciscans.com/news-and-events.html OR www.facebook.com/catholicsisters

 

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