Few people have considered how communities and nations actually tolerate and encourage human trafficking, particularly as it relates to prostitution, Pope Francis has said. Modern forms of slavery “are far more widespread than previously imagined, even within the most prosperous of our societies”, the Pontiff said during a meeting with an international group of law enforcement and Church workers.
“God’s cry to Cain, found in the first pages of the Bible – ‘Where is your brother?’ – challenges us to examine seriously the various forms of complicity by which society tolerates, and encourages, particularly with regard to the sex trade, the exploitation of vulnerable men, women and children,” the Pope told the Santa Marta Group.
Through parishes and youth groups, he said, Catholic young people should meet survivors of trafficking, listen to their stories and befriend them. “Don’t be afraid to meet them,” the Pope said. “Open your hearts, let them in.”
At another meeting this week Pope Francis spoke to a group of adults and teenagers who had taken part in a reflection on human trafficking. One young migrant, speaking in English, asked the Pope what could be done to prevent trafficking when, in her country, with promises of jobs in Europe young people are tricked into slavery and prostitution.
“How horrible it is to realise that many young victims were first abandoned by their family, considered disposable by their societies,” the Pope said.
Ploys
Young people need to be educated to understand the traffickers’ ploys and the reality that likely awaits those who fall into their clutches, he said. Survivors of trafficking can have a huge impact by sharing their stories.
Education is also important so that young people can get decent jobs at home or go to universities and not be tempted by the false promises of traffickers, he added.
But, one of the migrants told the Pope, it is “almost impossible” to find a decent job in Europe. More must be done, Francis said, to create jobs for young people, especially for survivors who have been rescued from traffickers.
The Pontiff told the group he hoped some survivors of trafficking would address the Synod of Bishops on youth in October to share their stories and “call the Church to action”.