By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-02 20:20:52 | Updated at 2025-01-05 03:42:34
2 days ago
CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Timothy C. Senior of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, issued a pastoral letter Dec. 29 warning of human trafficking throughout the diocese and urging the faithful to take steps to rescue victims.
Now is the time for Catholics to raise our voices anew in solidarity with the voiceless victims and survivors who suffer the indignity of human enslavement,” Bishop Senior wrote. “As people who champion a culture of life, we are called to respond with compassion and advocate on their behalf, recognizing that the evil of human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum.”
He wrote that Pennsylvania, and several counties within the Diocese of Harrisburg, have high numbers of reported human trafficking cases. Pennsylvania ranked in the top 15 states for the most reported cases in 2023, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, with the most cases in Lancaster County. Bishop Senior added that Dauphin County, also located within the diocese, ranked third in the state for human trafficking cases.
“This is a societal problem. This is a moral problem,” he wrote. “We must all work harder to turn away from forces that dehumanize and tear down our brothers and sisters rather than build them up.”
Bishop Senior proposed five practical ways for the faithful to help end human trafficking. First, he suggested that Catholics practice an intentional fast on Fridays during the year, in addition to abstaining from meat.
Second, he challenged Catholics to keep themselves chaste, uprooting any sexual sins, including pornography and prostitution. He also recommended that parents set good examples for their children in regards to sexual dignity, and asked that parents speak to their children about their own God-given dignity.
Third, Bishop Senior asked parishes to “reflect” on human trafficking in the area and learn about ways to help. Fourth, he recommended that Catholics engage with elected officials to make human trafficking a priority in state legislature.
Fifth, Bishop Senior proposed that an awareness of human trafficking be raised at a diocesan level by including monthly stories about the issue and its victims in the diocese’s newspaper, The Catholic Witness.
“Like every New Year, it is a time of resolutions, so I challenge all of us to eliminate our old habits while initiating new ways of engaging our faith lives,” Bishop Senior wrote.
He added that the issue of human trafficking relates to the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, which began on Christmas Eve.
“That’s the spirit of the jubilee year, that no one is beyond the power of God’s love and mercy, and we as people of faith need to be attentive to those who are most vulnerable, that are being so abused and taken advantage of,” Senior said, according to local outlet WHTM, an ABC affiliate. “2025 can be a really wonderful year if we all recognize the goodness that God has placed in each of us — and recognize that we can all be instruments of hope for other people.”
