The following is from an article by Grace Williams of Children of the Immaculate Heart:
Jesus used the words “captive” and “oppressed” to begin his earthly ministry, declaring that the Spirit was upon him to give liberty to those who are oppressed. There are many forms of captivity in our world today – spiritual captivity to sin, political oppression by unjust powers, and (incredibly) human slavery.
If our Lenten fasts are to bear fruit during Easter, we too must be about the Father’s business of setting captives free.
One way Catholics can respond is through making a conscious effort to confront the disturbing reality of human trafficking in our society today (also referred to as modern day slavery). Human trafficking is the fastest growing illegal industry in the world and the second largest black-market industry (behind only the illegal drug trade). Globally human trafficking generates $32 billion annually.
In our Diocese (including the San Diego and Imperial Counties), human trafficking has actually surpassed the illegal drug trade. According to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, human trafficking cases increased 600% between 2009 and 2014. The FBI has ranked San Diego as a “high-density” child trafficking area.
As Christians, an apostolic term meaning “little Christs,” the mission falls to us to implement Jesus’ mandate of setting the captives free. Involving both a physical and spiritual dimension, the journey to freedom for a trafficking survivor can often take years. Materially, it involves the cooperation of local and federal law enforcement agencies. Spiritually, the Church must get involved.
There are currently several homes for female adult survivors of human trafficking in San Diego County, including a home run by the Marist Missionary Sisters. These dear and faithful Sisters gave me my first experience working in a safe house. Unfortunately, there is not yet a home for minors in San Diego County.
In the fall of 2013 I founded Children of the Immaculate Heart, a not-for-profit organization, to provide housing and rehabilitation to survivors of trafficking in the Diocese of San Diego. One of the great treasures we have to offer is the Church’s teaching on marriage and family, human sexuality and feminine genius. It is such a grace to be able to carry out this work in the wake of the canonization of Pope St. John Paul II, who is a profound inspiration for my own desire to serve these young women and help them realize the profound beauty and dignity of authentic femininity.
We began serving our first adult client in the spring of 2014 and are currently in the process of opening a residential treatment center for female minor trafficking victims. This home will provide a much needed safe haven for the girls – offering therapy, education, job training and most importantly an environment centered on the healing and freeing love of Jesus Christ.
If you are interested in learning more please visit our website at www.childrenoftheimmaculateheart.org. You can also join us on May 11th from 6 to 7:30p.m. at Our Mother of Confidence Parish for a Human Trafficking Forum. The forum will consist of a panel of various law enforcement officials with Q&A from the audience. I will be speaking on our mission at Children of the Immaculate Heart. Hope to see you then!
Those Bishops and the USCCB who support ILLEGAL immigration,
end up supporting sex trafficking, drug trafficking, murder, and breaking up of families.
Secure the Borders and most of this crime will significantly slow in the USA.
Btw, the Bishops who support ILLEGAL immigration, support breaking the law, and violating the Doctrine of the Faith.
CCC # 2241 clearly states that immigrants must OBEY the LAW of the host Country – and that includes immigration laws.
Secure the Border and SLOW GANG Activity as well.
It will make the gangs less powerful, less wealthy.
” They poison our streets with drugs, violence, and all manner of crime.” – FBI.
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/gangs/gangs
Not all trafficking is the result of illegal immigration. In fact as I understand it, most of the girls forced into prostitution in the San Diego area are American citizens (Anglos, African Americans, Asian and Hispanics). This reminds me of a biblical scene where Christ Himself reached out to the prostitutes. I agree the Church must get involved. I think readers should go to the forum for a clearer understanding of what is going on, and to get involved.
Ted, the CCC also says that we, as a more affluent nation, must welcome those who come to us for a better life. It is more helpful, don’t you think, to tell the whole story and not just the quote that supports your vision of perfection.
There is plenty of evidence on the web to support the idea that the greatest amount of slave trafficking takes place the week of the annual Super Bowl, when thousands of sex trade slaves are brought into town to service the visitors coming to the game.
BobOne, yes many sex slaves are frequently moved around for two reasons – so they can make the most money, and so their handlers are less likely to get caught.
That does not mean that many are not ILLEGAL immigrants.
The CCC uses the word “more prosperous” NOT “affluent”.
CCC: ” 2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.
Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption.
Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws
and to assist in carrying civic burdens. ”
The USA is no longer prosperous. Our government is operating on borrowed money.
The FEDERAL Government is over $ 18,204,791,824,239.00 (over #18 TRILLION) dollars in debt.
And this is after the new infusion of tax dollars they received in mid-April.
https://www.usdebtclock.org/#
The CALIFORNIA State Government is $ 425,516,087,843.00 (over $ 425 BILLION dollars in debt).
https://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-california-debt-clock.html
(And many other States are in serious debt.)
And this does not include Counties and Cities that are in debt.
We are living an ILLUSION of prosperity.
Further – the CCC states we must pay our debts or “no other form of justice is possible”. (CCC 2411).
Ted, you are correct that we have massive debt, most of it from the cost of a ten plus year way that we should never have been in. But, that is water over the dam. People all over the world would love to be able to live as well as many of our poorest people. Even our families in poverty have clean drinking water, sources for good food, and education. By the standards of most countries of the world we are still rich. We could pay our debts if we wanted to. Remember when we had billions of dollars in reserve in our treasury? Those were good times for the country, sort of.
Secure the Border and slow ALL ILLEGAL activity.
US LAW – ” IMMIGRATION REFORM and CONTROL ACT of 1986 ”
1) requires employers to attest to their employees’ immigration status;
2) made it illegal to hire or recruit illegal immigrants knowingly;
3) legalized certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants, and;
4) legalized illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided there continuously with the penalty of a fine, back taxes due, and admission of guilt; candidates were required to prove that they were not guilty of crimes, that they were in the country before January 1, 1982, and that they possessed minimal knowledge about U.S. history, government, and the English language.
Unfortunately many of our Bishops support ILLEGAL immigration
and do NOT support Border control – because of the approx. $63 MILLION they get annually for their CCHD, Catholic Charities, and CRS in Federal Grants.
They do not care about the consequences of their actions that are gravely harmful to everyone.
Follow the money. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
They apply for and receive money from the pro-abortion, pro-sodomy, pro-contraception, pro-voluntary sterilization, etc – – – Federal Government
in violation of “ON the SERVICE of CHARITY” which went into effect Dec. 2012.
https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_ben-xvi_motu-proprio_20121111_caritas.html
Don’t most US Bishop have any principles at all ?
Yes, they say sexual trafficking is evil,
and then they support the source of most of the evil – ILLEGAL immigration and OPEN borders.
This article isn’t about immigration, legal or not. It is about sex trafficking. It is about the sex slaves that can be found in every major city of this country. It isn’t about the local woman or man that takes up prostitution to make a few bucks or a living, but about slavery. It is akin to the slavery that exist in the garment industry, in the sweat shops in the basements of city buildings, etc. It is about a whole world that exist in our midst that most of us know very little about and that the government, local, state and national, does little about.
Sexual Slavery (trafficking) is one of the outcomes of ILLEGAL immigration,
(that does not mean that some runaway and abducted US teens are not also abused because they are.)
In July 2004, the Human Smuggling Trafficking Center (HSTC) was created. The HSTC serves as a fusion center for information on human smuggling and trafficking, bringing together analysts, officers, and investigators from such agencies as the CIA, FBI, ICE, Department of State, and Department of Homeland Security.
ILLEGAL immigration should never be supported by our Bishops or any Catholics.
ILLEGAL immigration supports organized crime’s sex trafficking.
Our Borders must close except to orderly legal immigration.
Pete, how do we close our borders? All efforts so far have failed. Any suggestions for new approaches?
Hi –
This is Grace’s mom. Speaking from what I have heard Grace say – the trafficked girls are mostly from the foster care system and broken homes. These girls have not received the love from a caring family and many get swept off their feet at the promise of affection and care by a young man – then fall into prostitution. They need love, kindness, shelter and the LOVE of CHRIST JESUS demonstrated by Christians to give them strength and resources to start afresh.