Photo: Image of St Josephine Bakhita - © Saint Mary's Press
On February 8th 1947, a Sudanese nun lay in an Italian convent surrounded by Sisters as she took her final breath. Endearingly referred to by locals as “Madre Moretta - Black Mother,” Mother Josephine Bakhita was the “African Flower” kidnapped by slave-traffickers in 1878 and sold to ruthless masters when she was a mere nine-years-old.
Trafficked from Sudan across to Italy where she eventually converted to Catholicism, Mother Josephine Bakhita became a Canossian Sister in December 1893 and committed the rest of her life to working at the convent. 53 years after her death, the little girl who was trafficked, beaten, tortured, and sold a number of times, was canonized into the Church by Pope John Paul II as Saint Josephine Bakhita.
The International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking is observed annually on Saint Josephine Bakhita’s Feast Day (February 8th) and this year’s theme of “Ambassadors of Hope: Together Against Human Trafficking” echoes the Vatican’s “Pilgrims of Hope” in its Jubilee Holy Year. The Columban Fathers’ stand in solidarity with victims and survivors of human trafficking as part of the Society’s priority on Migrants and Refugees, many of whom are forced to cross borders as part of this exploited population around the world.
The ordeal that Saint Josephine Bakhita experienced as a child is now termed as Human Trafficking. It is defined as a crime against humanity because it involves the act of recruiting or kidnapping people (including children), then transferring and harbouring them between locations, before forcing or coercing victims into sex-work, forced labour, slavery, and the removal of human organs.
The 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons showed a significant increase (31%) of child victims with 60% of girls and 8% of boys being trafficked for the sex-trade. The report showed that women and girls continued to make up the majority of human trafficking victims at 61% while their male counterparts made up 39% of the numbers. It was also reported that the people who trafficked humans operated in highly structured criminal organisations and in 2022 global statistics showed that 70% of convicted traffickers were male and 25-30% were female.
In recent years, Columban Fathers in Australia have facilitated human trafficking workshops and worked closely with organisations like the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH) through awareness campaigns. This year, ACRATH released figures showing that 50 million people worldwide live in slavery, with 71% being women and girls. The statistics also showed that only 1 out of 5 trafficking victims in Australia were detected by authorities, indicating that there is a major lapse in countering trafficking activities by perpetrators.
Children at PREDA play Chess in a safe and loving environment where they have the chance to heal and be restored - Photo: PREDA
Over in the Philippines, Columban Father Shay Cullen founded the “People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance” (PREDA) Foundation in 1974 with the aim of bringing freedom and new life to children who, like St Josephine Bakhita, have been trafficked, enslaved, exploited, and abused. Having battled many years with military personnel and local businesses operating in the sex-trade, Fr. Cullen and his team of carers, educators, and social workers have rescued girls from being trafficked into prostitution and helped incarcerated young boys by providing them with a second chance at life. The children are cared for and protected in a nurturing environment where they take time to heal and be empowered through education, therapy, and a faith-based spirituality.
Like Saint Josephine Bakhita, these children experience early in life the violence and treachery of corrupted human behaviour. Yet, in the midst of their traumatic and desperate situations, goodness prevails in the form of people like the Canossian Sisters or Fr. Cullen and his team of everyday heroes. A Biblical example of this is shown in Genesis chapter 50, when a redeemed Joseph (son of Jacob) stands before his ten older brothers who trafficked him into slavery as a young boy and says, “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives…” (v.20)
The work of the Church today must include response mechanisms to the cry of trafficking victims so that what is intended for evil by organised crime and perpetrators is transformed to good in the form of rescue centers and services that help survivors to heal and be restored.
In the spirit of this Jubilee year, we are called to be pilgrims of hope in the midst of human agendas that revolt against God’s love and justice. This means praying for the safe escape or rescue of trafficking victims, donating to programs like PREDA to help safeguard, protect, and nurture childhood survivors of trafficking, being aware of the signs of a trafficked person in your community and then reporting it to authorities once you ascertain enough evidence.
Link to Indicators of Trafficking in Persons.
Intercession Prayer of St Josephine Bakhita
Saint Josephine Bakhita, as a child you were sold into slavery
and endured unspeakable hardships and suffering.
Once freed from your physical slavery,
you found true redemption in your encounter with Christ and his Church.
Oh Saint Bakhita, help all those who are trapped in slavery;
on their behalf, intercede before God
that they may be freed from the chains of their captivity.
May God free all who have been enslaved by man.
Provide relief to those who survive slavery
and allow them to look to You as a model of faith and hope.
Help all survivors find healing from their wounds.
We beseech you to pray and intercede for those who are
enslaved among us.
Amen.
Source: Intercession Prayer of St Josephine Bakhita
Adi Mariana Waqa is the Partnership Coordinator at the Columban Mission Centre in Essendon.
