Canberra, Australia, Jan 27, 2015 / 02:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Australia's bishops and religious have joined the global call of Pope Francis to mark Feb. 8, the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, as the world day of prayer, reflection, and action against human trafficking. St. Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped and sold into slavery, and later became a Canossian nun and was the first person from Sudan to be canonized, by St. John Paul II in 2000. “The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans resolute support Pope Francis in declaring Feb. 8, Feast of St Josephine Bakhita, as World Day of prayer, reflection and action against human trafficking,” the groups said in a Jan. 23 statement. The Australian bishops explained in their statement that the Vatican Secretary of State invited each national bishops conference to join the observance on Feb. 8 and to contribute to the “sensitising of public opinion to this tragic phenomenon, which represents one of the saddest wounds of our time.” According to Bishop Eugene Hurley of Darwin, “It is imperative that we begin a journey of personal change when we mark 8 February.” “Human trafficking exists in Australia and on this planet because we allow it to exist,” Bishop Hurley further emphasized. “Let us together commit to eradicate this affront to our humanity.” Sr Anne Tormey, RSM, president of ACRATH said, “Following the call from Pope Francis and leaders of the Anglican, Orthodox, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faiths, ‘to eradicate the terrible scourge of modern slavery in all its forms,’ today we join this global initiative.” “The life of St Josephine Bakhita reminds us of the assault to the dignity, and of the suffering endured by every trafficked person.” The Australian Bishops and ACRATH also acknowledged Pope Francis’ World Day of Peace message “No Longer Slaves, but Brothers and Sisters,” given Jan. 1. In his message Pope Francis solicited all the faithful “to practice acts of fraternity towards those kept in a state of enslavement.” He further proposed a self introspection saying, “Let us ask ourselves, as individuals and as communities, whether we feel challenged when, in our daily lives, we meet or deal with persons who could be victims of human trafficking, or when we are tempted to select items, which may well have been produced by exploiting others.” The Australian bishops explained that despite many efforts to end human trafficking internationally, “an estimated 27 million women, men and children today are deprived of their freedom and forced to suffer in conditions of exploitation and slavery.” “There is now a compelling need to put an end to trafficking in human beings.” Responding to Pope Francis' call to observe Feb. 8 the bishops urged the faithful “to think of persons trafficked into prostitution, as well as women forced into marriage, without any right to give or withhold their consent.” They added that “we remember also people trafficked into Australia to work in the agriculture, construction and hospitality sectors.” The bishops further enumerated, “And we remember people whose labour is exploited to produce cheap goods for Australians. We remember young boys in West Africa who are trafficked into the cocoa production for Australian chocolate.” “We remember refugees in Thailand who are trafficked onto fishing vessels to produce cheap fish for Australians to eat. We remember the women in Bangladesh whose exploited labour and unsafe working conditions result in cheap clothing for Australians to wear.” “We also remember the 200 female students kidnapped in Nigeria in April 2014 by Boko Haram; reports suggest that many of these girls have been sold or forced into marriages.” Emphasizing the gravity of concern, the ACBC and ACRATH stressed urged “a fourfold commitment to prevention, victim protection, the legal prosecution of perpetrators, and partnerships for change; these require a global effort on the part of all sectors of society.” The bishops assertively concluded that ACBC and ACRATH support the statement published by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences in November 2013, declaring that “it is our moral imperative to make ours the last generation that has to fight the trade in human lives.” Read more

Hanoi, Vietnam, Jan 27, 2015 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, lauded the efforts of the Catholic community in Vietnam during his pastoral visit last week and encouraged them in the path of mission. Cardinal Filoni's dicastery coordinates missionary cooperation throughout the world, and he visited Vietnam after having accompanied Pope Francis' visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines earlier this month. His visit to Vietnam marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Xuan Loc, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s decree Ad Gentes, on the mission activity of the Church. Cardinal Filoni stressed in a homily in Xuan Loc Jan. 24 that the diocese “is a fruit of the Second Vatican Council, and has committed in the course of these years to announce the Gospel and make of you the true family of God.” On Jan. 23, Cardinal Filoni said Mass in Da Nang, and wished the Catholics “happy apostolate! So many people are waiting to know today, here, Christ.” The Diocese of Da Nang was established by St. John XXIII in 1963, during the Second Vatican Council, and for this reason “it was one of the first fruits of that extraordinary ecclesiastical gathering, in which the Vietnamese bishops took part,” Cardinal Filoni said. Cardinal Filoni's schedule included a meeting with the Vietnamese bishops conference Jan. 20; a visit to a parish filled with ethnic minorities Jan. 21; a Jan. 22 visit to the La Vang Marian Shrine, where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1798; and finally the visit to the parish of Hoi An, the most ancient city in Vietnam, which was evangelized 400 years ago. Cardinal Filoni's pastoral visit to Vietnam comes at a moment of improved relations between the Holy See and Vietnam. Relations have improved such that next month, Pope Francis will make a cardinal of Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Hanoi. Archbishop Nguyen's appointment as cardinal is the second important move Pope Francis has made in Vietnam in recent years, in an attempt to ease relations between the Vatican and Vietnam. In September 2013 he appointed Paul Bui Van Doc as Coadjutor Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City. Archbishop Bui in 2012 proposed that dialogue between the Church and the atheistic doctrine espoused by Hanoi, emphasizing a distinction between the trend of secularization in the West with what happened in the East, so as to find a new way to evangelize. Diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Holy See were dissolved in 1975, when the communist north overran South Vietnam. But since then, the visits of more than 20 Vatican delegations led to the 2007 visit of prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Benedict XVI. After the 2007 meeting, the Holy See and Vietnam began talks to re-establish diplomatic ties, and for this purpose a joint working group was established in 2009. In 2011, Archbishop Girelli was appointed as non-resident special envoy to Vietnam, and the following year, Nguyen Phu Trong, secretary of the Vietnamese communist party, visited Benedict, thus showing that Vietnamese authorities really wished to normalize diplomatic relations. Further improvements on the diplomatic side are expected for the sixth meeting of the working group, which should take place in the Vatican. In the mean time, Cardinal Filoni visited Vietnam and encouraged the activities of the Catholic community, in an attempt to join pastoral activity to the diplomatic one. Read more