“Globally, the number of victims of trafficking is growing, with children being increasingly affected” PC: Pixabay
Madre Moretta – the black mother known as Saint Josephine Bakhita the “African flower” – is revered in the Catholic Church as the patron saint for humans who have been trafficked across borders for sex, slavery, labour, or all three. Like Saint Josephine, who was kidnapped, bought, and sold a number of times from the age of 9, trafficked children and adults suffer immeasurable pain and loss throughout their ordeal, enduring violence, neglect, forced marriage, and the exploitation of their human dignity.
In 2015, the late Pope Francis established this day through the Church’s anti-trafficking network known as Talitha Kum which has over 6,000 religious sisters and global organisation members that collaborate with the Dicasteries of Promoting Integral Human Development, Communications, and Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
This year’s World Day of Prayer and Reflection Against Human Trafficking focuses on the theme of “Peace begins with dignity: A global call to end human trafficking.” Catholic social teachings state that every human is created in God’s image and has inherent dignity making their life sacred. In other words, a human life, no matter their social standing, ability, ethnic background, religion, or economic status, is worthy of living a dignified life with love, safety, and freedom.
Children are very precious to God and Christ gives a reminder that it is better to be drowned at sea than to harm one of these little ones (Matt 18:6) PC: Pixabay
27 million people are estimated to be trafficked globally each year. The majority being women, children, migrants, and refugees fleeing from their homelands. Imagine having no choice but to leave everything behind, only to be coercively exploited into a life of captivity. Columban missionaries are aware of these impacts human trafficking has had on local communities and made efforts to respond such as the “People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance” (PREDA) in the Philippines which rescue girls from prostitution and boys from slave-labour. Providing a safe space for trafficked children to have their human dignity restored and healed, Columban Fr Shay Cullen helps bring freedom and new life to these precious gifts from God (Psalm 127:3).
Pope Leo XIV has stated that true peace can only be achieved wherever “human dignity is upheld,” and so the continued trafficking of adults and children deny all efforts towards a peaceful and just world for future generations to inherit. In his 2025 address to the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons summit, Monsignor Marco Formica (Counselor at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN) said,
“Globally, the number of victims of trafficking is growing, with children being increasingly affected, particularly those who are unaccompanied or separated from their families. The Holy See remains concerned about this grim situation. Despite the progress made, trafficking networks continue to exploit the vulnerabilities arising, among others, from poverty, underdevelopment and humanitarian emergencies.”
Today we remember all victims of human trafficking. May the systems of evil and greed that exploit people for power be dismantled through the committed work of churches, faith groups, organisations, and survivors like Saint Josephine, who were able to arise from their captivity and help others restore their human dignity in a bid to create peace on earth.
Adi Mariana Waqa is the Columban Partnership Coordinator at St Columban's, Essendon.
