Month: August 2023

LISBON, Portugal (CNS) – A Catholic Church that has grown weary in countries shaken by the clerical sexual abuse crisis and cultural trends toward secularism must look anew to Jesus to revive their “restless” enthusiasm for sharing the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

“Now is the God-given time of grace to sail boldly into the sea of evangelization and of mission,” the pope told Portuguese bishops, priests, religious and pastoral workers after praying vespers at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon Aug. 2, the first day of his trip to Portugal.

Using a wheelchair, the pope entered the 16th-century monastery to great applause, and the cheers that erupted when he stood to greet those present resembled those echoing from the pop concert taking place across the street for World Youth Day.

Pope Francis was greeted by Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho of Leiria-Fátima, president of the country’s bishops’ conference, before leading the prayer. In his homily, the pope reflected on the passage from St. Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus gets into the disciples’ fishing boat and invites them to let their nets down in deep water for a catch.

Just as those fishermen didn’t catch anything before Jesus’ arrival, “there are moments in our ecclesial journey when we can feel a similar weariness — weariness — when we seem to be holding only empty nets,” he said, noting how such a situation is common in countries with a long-standing Christian tradition but are now experiencing a “growing detachment from the practice of the faith.”

Often, he added, the reality of waning church participation in those countries is accentuated by the disappointment and anger people feel toward the church due to “our poor witness and the scandals that have marred her face and call us to a humble and ongoing purification, starting with the anguished cry of the victims, who must always be accepted and listened to.”

The Vatican announced later that after vespers Pope Francis met at the nunciature with 13 victims of “abuse by members of the clergy, accompanied by some representatives of Portuguese church institutions in charge of the protection of minors. The meeting took place in an atmosphere of intense listening and lasted more than an hour, concluding shortly after 8:15 p.m.”

In February, an independent report commissioned by the Portuguese bishops’ conference found that at least 4,815 minors were abused by members of the church in Portugal between 1960-2022, sparking harsh criticism against the church within the country.

Brother Antão Caunan, a Hospitaller of St. John of God who attended the vespers, told Catholic News Service he was “very joyful” about Pope Francis’ visit to Portugal, but hoped the pope would talk about the abuse crisis in his homily. Brother Caunan is from Timor-Leste and for five years has been serving his religious community in Portugal, where, he said, the abuse revelations have “changed the perception of ordinary people toward the church” and eroded their trust in the institution.

The pope in his homily urged Portugal’s Catholic community to “bring those struggles and tears to the Lord, in order then to respond to pastoral and spiritual needs, together, with open hearts.”

Pope Francis said the first step is to develop a strong faith — and that cannot be done by reciting certain words, “blah, blah, blah,” or taking a nap in the sacristy, he said jokingly. He recommended partaking in silent adoration to “truly rediscover our taste and passion for evangelization” that is “without ideologies or forms of worldliness.”

With several Missionaries of Charity sitting in the front rows near the pope, he recalled how Mother Theresa always went to adoration even through her most difficult crises of faith.

The pope also urged people to “work together in offering pastoral care,” offering the synodal principles of “communion, mutual assistance and shared journey. That is the aim of the current synod.”

Looking at the crowd, he said the church must announce the Gospel to everyone — “everyone, everyone, everyone” — and insisted the church “should not be a customs office to select who passes and who doesn’t.”

Maritza Barros, a youth coordinator in Madeira, Portugal, told CNS that some of the 1,000 young people she brought to Lisbon for World Youth Day are thought to be judgmental by their non-Catholic friends for believing in God, and that they respond well to the pope’s invitation “to make their faith accessible to all.”

The pope’s visit to Portugal, coupled with World Youth Day, will “brush the dust off the pews” for young people in the church.

Pope Francis urged church workers in Portugal to continue lowering their nets and being a light in a world that has “lost a sense of enthusiasm, the courage to dream, the strength to confront challenges and to be confident about the future.”

To a roar of laughter, the pope ended his homily by entrusting the Portuguese Catholic community to Our Lady of Fátima and St. Anthony, who was born in Lisbon but “was stolen by those of Padua.”

LISBON, Portugal (OSV News) – Joyful, singing crowds were walking through Lisbon long after the opening Mass of World Youth Day 2023 was over Aug. 1. The atmosphere surprised even those that lived in the Portuguese capital throughout their lives.

“All those people are now on the streets, it’s really exhilarating! I don’t think it will happen in my lifetime again that so many pilgrims come to my city!” Concha Sousa, a Portuguese volunteer of WYD 2023, told OSV News.

Sousa is 26 but never participated in WYD before. But now, when it’s in her city, “how could you not,” she said. “It would be a sin not to!”

Thousands of young people participated in the opening Mass of WYD in Lisbon. Cardinal Manuel Clemente, the patriarch of Lisbon, welcomed them at the Eduardo VII Parc in the city center.

“Lisbon welcomes you wholeheartedly,” Cardinal Clemente told the youths.

In his homily, he described to them how the pilgrims were walking in the footsteps of the Blessed Mother. “Mary set out. A path that was difficult and without the means of transportation that we have available today. She was young like all of you, and had just conceived Jesus in a unique way, which the Gospel recounts,” Cardinal Clemente said. “All of you also set out. For many it was a difficult journey due to the distance, the connections, and the costs that the trip required. It was necessary to bring together resources, organize activities to obtain them, and rely on solidarity which, thanks to God, was not lacking.”

Youth from all countries of the world except from Maldives arrived in Lisbon for the event, including over 1,300 groups comprised of more than 28,600 individuals from across the United States. The U.S. is among the five largest delegations participating in WYD, which is taking place Aug. 1-6. Most U.S. pilgrims to WYD are young adults between the ages of 18 and 25.

“From near or far, you all set out. It is very important to set out. This is how we should face our own lives, as a journey to be traveled, making each day a new segment,” Cardinal Clemente said.

Joseph Vo set out to come to WYD from San Jose. He saw the videos of WYD in Krakow in 2016, and that’s when he first dreamt of coming to World Youth Day.

“I was 11 at the time, and it was just so beautifully done and inspiring, and with Pope Francis being such an inspiring pope I decided that when I would get older I would one day go to World Youth Day,” he said.

He loved the Lisbon encounter from the first sight.

“It’s been fantastic, it’s been beautiful,” he told OSV News. “There is plenty of time to pray and encounter God directly. Also it’s just a really beautiful opportunity to talk and engage and meet other young people.”

“It feels like we’re all family members that haven’t seen each other for a long time,” Vo said.

For youth, often closed in their own virtual circles, what matters in WYD is the actual personal meeting.

“Virtual reality keeps us seated in front of means that easily use us when we think we use them. Quite to the contrary, reality consists in going out to encounter others and the world as it is, both to admire and make better,” Cardinal Clemente said.

“I’ve never seen so many different people so happy together,” a 16-year-old-Portuguese pilgrim said, marching with her friends.

There are 354,000 pilgrims registered for the event, with the most representatives from Spain (77,224 young people), Italy (almost 60,000) and Portugal (43,742). France brought 42,482 pilgrims, followed by the U.S. The theme of WYD is “Mary arose and went with haste.

“When I told Pope Francis that this was precisely the motto of our World Youth Day — Mary arose and went with haste… — he immediately added that, ‘yes, with haste but not anxiously,'” Cardinal Clemente told the youth at the opening Mass Aug. 1.

The encounter is also important for bishops from all corners of the Catholic world. Almost 700 bishops are registered for the event, according to the organizing committee, 30 of whom are cardinals.

Bishop Artur Wazny, auxiliary bishop of Tarnow, Poland, is one of them, and he told OSV News that after participating in several World Youth Days, this one means a lot to him as it is the first one he is participating in as a bishop.

“Starting with quite a difficult journey, I am really happy I could experience the event just like the young people and with them,” he said. “Young people give light and joy, and we can all embrace that joy from them and believe, thanks to them, that what I do as a bishop makes sense. They teach me to be a better man.”

“In fact, every meeting we have must begin with a true greeting, in which we exchange words of sincere welcome and full sharing,” Cardinal Clemente told the youth.

And the youth don’t have to be asked twice. Across Lisbon, they are exchanging signatures on their national flags, taking pictures together and sharing stories, ready to make the most of the next few days together.

ORLANDO, Fla. (OSV News) – Amid the swirl of incense and the fanfare of brass orchestra and choir singing a triumphal “Te Deum,” several hundred clergy processed into the opening Mass for the Knights of Columbus 2023 annual convention, escorted by uniformed fourth-degree Knights.

“I welcome all of you to this place and home of faith,” Bishop John G. Noonan of Orlando, the chief celebrant of the Aug. 1 Mass, welcoming the 2,300 Knights and family members in the temporary sanctuary where an icon of Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd looked out over the gathering.

The Knights of Columbus 141st Supreme Convention held Aug. 1-3 in Orlando gathered Knights, both lay and clergy, from all over the globe at the Orlando World Center Marriott, showing its international reach and “Catholic” nature of the brotherhood, encompassing men of diverse cultures, languages and continents all held together by the same faith in Jesus Christ. The Knights and their families came from seven countries — the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Ukraine, South Korea — and the U.S. territory of Guam. The prayers of the faithful were given in five languages: English, French, Tagalog, Spanish and Ukrainian.

The music, provided by the Choir and Brass Ensemble of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, included beautiful Eucharistic hymns with music from Poland and France. It also gave a significant nod to the Irish heritage of the Knights’ founder, Blessed Michael McGivney. The choir sang “Ag Criost an Siol” (“To Christ the seed”) in Gaeilge, Ireland’s Indigenous language, and St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

More than 50 bishops and archbishops were in attendance, which also included three cardinals: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York; Cardinal James M. Harvey, a U.S. prelate who is archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls; and Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.

The Mass showed Catholic bishops and faithful of the Eastern Churches, including the Ukrainian, Chaldean, Maronite and Syriac Churches, alongside their brothers of the Latin Church. In fact, the highest-ranking Catholic prelate at the Aug. 1 Mass was not a bishop of the Latin Church, but the head of the Syriac Catholic Church: Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of Antioch.

Flanked by the Knights’ own patrons, Blessed McGivney on the left, and the Virgin of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, on the right, Bishop Noonan gave the homily based on the two readings taken from the day’s Mass.

The first reading, taken from parts of Exodus 33 and 34, spoke about Moses speaking with the Lord “face to face, as one man speaks to another,” praising the Lord’s mercy and justice, while fasting and interceding for the people of God, and writing down the Ten Commandments. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus explains to his disciples the parable of the weeds in the field, where the “children of the Kingdom” are the good seed planted in the field; while the weeds are the “children of the Evil One” who are sown by the Devil. At the end of the world, Jesus says, the Lord will send out his angels to separate the weeds from his harvest, with the evildoers going to punishment and the righteous enjoying the Father’s kingdom.

“We too have been struggling, struggling for these last few years,” Bishop Noonan said. “Our world and our nation has gone through the experience of weeds and deserts. We have felt lost and forsaken, like the people of Israel — and yet Jesus reminds his disciples to be cautious and patient with dealing with the weeds and weeds growing in our midst.”

Bishop Noonan reminded the Knights the U.S. church is called in its 2022-2025 National Eucharistic Revival “to celebrate the sacredness, the beauty and the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.”

The bishop pointed out that all things are in God’s hands: “Jesus is the master of the harvest,” and “he will separate the wheat from the weeds.”

But Bishop Noonan challenged the Knights to think of the parable, and Moses’ preparation of the people to enter the Promised Land, and connect it with what they are doing in their lives with respect to “the greatest gift of all: receiving Christ in the Eucharist.”

“Are we prepared to receive Christ, the Eucharist, by separating ourselves from the evil that sometimes contaminates us and our world?” he said. “By separating the weeds from the wheat, by allowing Christ to separate the sin from the sinner?”

“The grace of the Eucharist transforms lives,” he said. “The sacrament of reconciliation purifies us; helps us; separates us from the sin; preserves and increases and renews the life of the grace we receive at baptism.”

He added, “We’re called to be renewed. We’re called to be made whole. We’re called above all to be renewed with Christ in the Eucharist.”

Bishop Noonan then recalled the Knights to the witness of their founder, Blessed McGivney (1852-1890), the parish priest who started the fraternal order in 1882 that has its headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.

“He was challenged; he was entrusted to preach the Gospel; he was entrusted to bring the Eucharist, Christ, to others,” he said.

Bishop Noonan reminded the Knights that Blessed McGivney also faced a world that was “troubling, difficult and harsh.”

“And in those moments, he saw hope. Despite the failings of humanity, he wanted to bring hope to others,” the bishop said. “And he did bring hope by allowing Christ to help him. Let us be mindful of Father Michael McGivney, a man who saw the needs of the people and reached out to heal them, to separate the weeds from the wheat.”

“We too can do great things, if we allow the Lord into our lives; if we let him heal us, guide us, and above all, teach us,” the bishop said, concluding his homily. “So today, as we begin this convention, may it be a time for us to be Eucharistic, to be above all, Christ-filled, so that we too can bring Christ to others.”

(OSV News) – When the temperature outside is so high that even Texans joke about baking bread in their mailbox – as one Houston-area grandmother recently pretended to do, quickly going viral – it’s fair to say there’s perhaps more to the widespread and ongoing heat wave than typical summer doldrums.

More than 80 million Americans are currently under dangerous heat advisories. Temperatures in California’s Death Valley hover around 120 degrees Fahrenheit at midnight. Setting a city record, Phoenix as of July 31 had seen 31 straight days of heat over 110 F, the cause of 25 deaths, as confirmed by health officials July 22.

Spain, Greece and Italy have recorded all-time high temperatures. In several Middle Eastern countries, the heat index mid-July reached 152 F, considered almost at the limit for human survival.

Bizarrely enough, a 16th-century Catholic church — almost entirely submerged in a Chiapas, Mexico, reservoir since 1966 — is now a completely exposed tourist attraction due to lack of rain, high temperatures, and falling water levels, Mexican officials say.

But how do thermometer-bursting digits relate to wider concerns about climate change, a warming earth, and the call to action of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si'” — and can individual Catholics make a difference?

“If you want proof of what the significance of the phenomenon is,” José Aguto told OSV News, “I would welcome everyone, if they have trust in the scientific evidence of a thermometer, to look at the temperatures that have been charted from at least the 1900s until now, and see the increase that has happened.” Aguto is executive director of Catholic Climate Covenant — a Washington-based consortium of 20 national organizations formed in 2006 with the help of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the earth’s temperature has risen by an average of 0.14 Fahrenheit, or 0.08 Celsius, “per decade since 1880,” or about 2 F in total.” However, NOAA observes that “the rate of warming since 1981 is more than twice as fast”: 0.32 F (0.18 C) per decade and “the 10 warmest years in the historical record have all occurred since 2010.”

“So this is our future unless we dramatically reduce the burning of fossil fuels,” Aguto cautioned. “We do not have time for political self-interest and financial self-interest to be the determining drivers of how we, as a civilization, are to chart our future.”

Those interests include the projected costs of transitioning to renewable energy models.

Nonetheless, the World Economic Forum voiced its concerns about the “need to transition to clean, reliable and climate-neutral energy sources” in an April 2023 article on the organization’s website. “It is simply not good enough to dig more coal or burn more natural gas,” it stated; “we must find a way to deliver energy security without endangering the planet and those that live on it.”

Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd. — one of the world’s largest reinsurers — likewise issued a 2021 report titled, “The economics of climate change: no action not an option,” noting that natural disasters exacerbated by climate change could cost the U.S. economy nearly $2 trillion a year by 2050, and shrink the global economy 10% by the same date.

Looking to future generations, Aguto reflected, “If we as Catholics believe in the fundamental life and dignity of every human person, we then have an obligation to protect the life and dignity of every human person — and that includes assuring a stable, thriving earth for them.”

Pope Francis referenced the recent heat headlines during his July 23 Sunday Angelus message in Rome, while making a global plea.

“I renew my appeal to world leaders to do something more concrete to limit polluting emissions,” he said. “It is an urgent challenge, it cannot be postponed, and it concerns everyone. Let us protect our common home.”

The pope’s choice of words reflects the title of his 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home,” in which he said the “climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.”

The Associated Press, reporting data from an October 2022 Global Carbon Project study, whose figures are seconded by the International Energy Agency — indicates “the top three most polluting places on Earth are responsible for 53% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions released into the atmosphere for more than 60 years.” They are the United States (21.5%); China (16.5%); and the European Union (15%).

As NASA notes, “Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere warms the planet, causing climate change. Human activities have raised the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide content by 50% in less than 200 years.”

Steven Coleman, a retired mechanical engineer living in Marshall, Wisconsin, has been advocating for the climate since before the release of “Laudato Si'” and penned a widely used guidebook, “A Catholic Response to Global Warming.” A leader of the Catholic Action Team for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and the Care for Creation Team at Madison’s St. Dennis Catholic Parish, Coleman admitted that at the parish level, “initially, it was difficult to have that conversation — because you didn’t know how divisive it was going to be with people.” But he has “seen a significant change in that over eight years.”

According to a February 2023 Pew Research Center study, 57% of Catholics say global climate change is “an extremely or very serious problem.”

When challenged that global warming can’t be regarded as critical since the earth’s temperature has only risen a couple of degrees in the last approximately 140 years, Coleman asks listeners to contemplate a biological equivalent: “That doesn’t seem like much — but if you consider it like the human body, if your temperature goes up a couple of degrees, you have a fever,” said Coleman. “Similarly in our climate, if the average global temperature goes up a couple of degrees, that’s a big deal also — because it’s a very finely-tuned system.”

While both Coleman and Aguto told OSV News that small, individual efforts — carpooling, recycling, water conservation, limiting use of plastics, promoting energy efficiency with adjusted thermostats — are important, discussion is at the top of their climate engagement lists.

“Have the courage to talk about it,” Coleman advised, “even though there are some people that are going to find it politically divisive, the reality is that we’ve got this global heat and people are suffering and dying because of it. So talk about it. Second, talk to your legislators. Make sure they understand that this is important to you. … It does make a difference.”

Among the top-10 volumes on The New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list is “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet” by Jeff Goodell.

“I wrote this book almost as a survival guide to the 21st century, ” Goodell told OSV News. “I want to help educate people about the risk of heat, and make it personal — and that’s why the title is so personal.”

Goodell is nonetheless realistic.

“The blunt truth is there’s never going to be a universal consensus on this — that’s just not going to happen,” he said. “But what we need is a stronger political consensus to take action; a stronger sense of urgency among the people who do understand this … and the typical person who walks into a bookstore and thinks that this is not their problem.”

And yet it is potentially their problem — because as Goodell explained, “compared to other climate and weather impacts, heat kills by far more people than any other event.”

“People don’t understand the risk,” he said. “They don’t understand what to do when it’s hot; we have poor messaging about it. There’s little infrastructure built specifically for heat. We’ve not understood the immediate threat that heat poses to us.”

Goodell fears a population that will “just adapt to the fact that tens of thousands of people die every summer because of extreme heat, and that becomes part of how we think the world works,” he said. “We’ll just accept that this extreme climate that we’re moving into is the way things are — and not understand that this is the world that we created, and we still have a lot of control over what it looks like.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Destroying grain is a “grave offense to God,” Pope Francis said, appealing to authorities in Russia as “my brothers” and urging them to resume cooperating with a United Nations’ initiative to guarantee the safe transport of grain out of Ukraine.

“Let us not cease to pray for beleaguered Ukraine, where the war is destroying everything, even grain,” he said after praying the Angelus with people gathered in St. Peter’s Square July 30, 2023.

“This is a grave offense to God, because grain is his gift to feed humanity; and the cry of millions of brothers and sisters who suffer hunger rises to heaven,” he said.

“I appeal to my brothers, the authorities of the Russian Federation, that the Black Sea Initiative may be restored and grain may be transported safely,” he said.

The pope was referring to a U.N. initiative that started in Aug. 2022, allowing millions of tons of grain and other crops harvested in Ukraine to be exported across the Black Sea.

However, Russian government authorities announced July 17 it would no longer take part in the agreement, effectively blockading Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and forcing more shipments to take an already congested route along the Danube River.

Since then Ukraine’s ports on the Danube and grain storage facilities have been targeted by drone and missile strikes; Ukrainian authorities said 60,000 tons of agricultural products were destroyed at a site in Odesa, estimated to have been able to feed 270,000 people for a year. Ukraine was ranked fifth among the largest exporters of wheat worldwide for 2022-2023, according to Statista, and it is also a major world supplier of sunflower oil, barley and corn.

After his Angelus prayer, Pope Francis made a number of appeals and calls for prayers, including for the upcoming Aug. 4 anniversary of a massive explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020. A fire caused thousands of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate to detonate, killing more than 210 people and wreaking widespread damage to homes, roads and infrastructure.

“I renew my prayer for the victims and their families, who are seeking truth and justice, and I hope that Lebanon’s complex crisis may find a solution worthy of the history and values of that people. Let us not forget that Lebanon is also a message,” he said, referring to their history as a land of tolerance and pluralism.

The pope also marked the U.N.’s International Friendship Day and World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, celebrated July 30.

“The first promotes friendship between peoples and cultures; the second combats the crime that turns people into commodities,” he said.

“God bless those who work to fight against trafficking,” he said, adding that “trafficking is a terrible reality, affecting too many people: children, women, workers…, so many exploited people; all living in inhuman conditions and suffering indifference and rejection by society.”

The pope also asked that people “accompany me with prayer in my journey to Portugal,” where he will go Aug. 2-6 for World Youth Day.

“A great many young people, from all continents, will experience the joy of the encounter with God and with their brothers and sisters, guided by the Virgin Mary,” he said. “I entrust the World Youth Day pilgrims and all young people of the world to her, shining star of the Christian path.”

In his reflection on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew before praying the Angelus, the pope said Jesus is like a precious “pearl” that must be sought, found, cherished and “made one’s own.”

“It is worth investing everything in him because, when one encounters Christ, life changes,” he said. He is the greatest good in life and the faithful must seek to “find and embrace Jesus with all of oneself.”

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (OSV News) – Kerry Alys Robinson has been named as the next president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, the organization representing the interests of its 167 member organizations dedicated to carrying out the domestic humanitarian work of the Catholic Church in the United States.

When Robinson, currently an executive partner of Leadership Roundtable, begins her tenure Aug. 23, she becomes the second layperson and second woman ever to lead CCUSA, the group said.

In a July 25 statement, CCUSA board chair Neal Black said Robinson’s “entire professional life has been devoted to serving and bettering our church.”

“After an exhaustive national search, our board voted unanimously and enthusiastically to appoint Kerry to this vital role,” Black said. “We are confident that the Catholic Charities network and the millions of vulnerable people it serves each year will greatly benefit from Kerry’s extraordinary passion, expertise and insight.”

CCUSA said in her role at Leadership Roundtable, an organization of laity, religious and clergy working together to promote best professional practices of the Catholic Church in the U.S., Robinson served as its founding executive director and played a defining role in its growth and success. Robinson also is the executive director of the Opus Prize Foundation, which awards grants to ministries that alleviate human suffering.

In a July 25 statement, Robinson said, the Gospels “call Catholics and all people of good will to serve those most in need of our aid.”

“The staff and volunteers of Catholic Charities agencies around the country answer that call every day: feeding the hungry, comforting the afflicted and welcoming the stranger,” Robinson said. “I am deeply honored and profoundly humbled to be a part of this life-giving mission.”

At Leadership Roundtable, Robinson’s work included examining ways to incorporate the laity more fully into the work of the church and helping church leaders solve difficult challenges. At the invitation of the Vatican, she also has advised the Catholic Church on how to empower women leaders in that work.

Cardinal-designate Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., said in a July 25 statement that Robinson “is a woman of the Church and brings to CCUSA her love for Christ and wide experience of engagement with the Gospel, particularly concern for the poor and vulnerable.”

“Kerry has a great ability to build relationships,” he added. “I am sure her many gifts and talents will further the CCUSA mission and bring hope to the many people served.”

Robinson succeeds Dominican Sister Donna Markham, who retires later this summer after nine years.

“I could not be more pleased that Kerry Robinson is stepping into this role that has meant so much to me,” Sister Donna said in a statement. “I am confident that her visionary leadership, devotion to the Church and sincere commitment to serving those in need will bring out the best in our staff, volunteers and supporters.”

LONDON (OSV News) – Human trafficking doesn’t happen only in far away places where human rights are neglected. It happens around the corner.

It’s modern-day slavery, say those working to stop it around the world.

“Slavery didn’t end in the United States with the Civil War and the 13th Amendment in 1865. Legal slavery ended,” said Greg Burke, a former Vatican spokesman who develops strategic partnerships for the anti-slavery charity Arise, which has offices in London and the U.S. “What continues to this day is people — most of them young women — being enslaved in massage parlors, nail salons and prostitution rings, working to pay off massive debts they owe to the people who have tricked and trafficked them.”

July 30 was World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which aims to raise awareness about the victims of human trafficking and promote and protect their rights.

This year’s theme, “Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind,” calls on governments, law enforcement, public services and civil society to assess and enhance their efforts to strengthen prevention, identify and support victims, and end impunity.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime noted that globally, national responses to trafficking, “particularly in developing States, appear to be deteriorating.”

Detection rates fell by 11% in 2020 and convictions plummeted by 27%, illustrating a worldwide slowdown in the criminal justice response to trafficking, according to the U.N. office.

The COVID-19 pandemic, it said, also changed the characteristics of trafficking, “pushing it further underground and potentially increasing the dangers to victims by making the crime less likely to come to the attention of the authorities.”

Forty-one percent of victims who manage to escape their ordeal reach out to the authorities on their own initiative, the U.N. agency said, calling this “another clear sign that anti-trafficking responses are falling short.”

The primary targets of traffickers, according to the organization, are “those who lack legal status, live in poverty, have limited access to education, health care, or decent work, face discrimination, violence, or abuse, or come from marginalized communities.”

“Runaway kids are particularly easy prey, getting picked up at bus stations and malls within days of having left home,” Burke said.

“Owning slaves is incredibly profitable, (even more so than dealing drugs) and quite difficult to prosecute, so traffickers are brazen in going about their business,” he added.

Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joined humanitarian organizations and countries around the globe in recognizing World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

Salesian missionaries, operating in over 130 countries, work both to prevent human trafficking and to care for victims who are living on the streets and seeking a second chance in life.

Father Timothy Ploch, interim director of Salesian Missions, said these missionaries “educate youth about the dangers associated with migration, which can put them at risk of trafficking and those who might wish them harm.”

“One of the primary ways we support youth is understanding the needs of the local market and providing training programs that help youth find work in their own communities, in employment sectors that are looking for skilled labor,” Father Ploch said.

In Mexico, for example, the Salesian Tijuana Project provides services to migrants and poor youth living on Mexico’s border with the U.S. and is working to create an extensive educational network in areas where poor youth are at risk of social exclusion.

The project’s Salesian Refectory is a hub for migrants who, besides much-needed material help, also are offered a “familiar and welcoming environment,” Salesian Missions said in a statement sent to OSV News.

In Peruvian capital, Lima, the Salesians run Don Bosco House in the Magdalena del Mar neighborhood, which was established to provide support for the wave of Venezuelan migrants, who came to the city in 2018 and 2019.

“Today, it is a shelter that houses 45 young migrants and refugees between the ages of 18 and 25, as well as five families who are faced with extreme poverty. More than 700 youth have passed through Don Bosco House in recent years, including youth from Ecuador and Colombia,” the statement said.

“At Don Bosco House, youth have the support of educators and psychologists, and they live in a family atmosphere that fosters personal and spiritual growth. These youth have faced abandonment, separation, child labor and prison experiences,” Salesian Missions added.

Salesian programs also are active in Africa. In Sierra Leone, the Don Bosco Fambul Girls Shelter provides support and recovery for underage girls who are victims of sexual violence and abuse and were forced into prostitution. There they get an education and a chance “to start a new life.” In Uganda a similar house was founded for boys.

“How to put an end to the problem?” asked Burke. “First of all, shine a light on it. When ordinary people realize what’s going on, even in their own neighborhoods, they’ll take steps to stop it. See something, say something.”

Among those taking steps to stop human trafficking are Catholic religious sisters, which the Arise foundation considers unsung heroes in this movement. On Oct. 31 in London, Arise will honor three sisters at a global ceremony to present the Sisters Anti Trafficking Awards, or SATAs.

“For decades, Catholic sisters have worked to alleviate human suffering and prevent exploitation in their communities,” Arise said in a press statement sent to OSV News. “Talitha Kum, the global sisters’ anti-trafficking network, boasts over 6,000 members in over 90 countries — more anti-trafficking agents than even the largest aid agencies.”

The SATAs are co-hosted by Arise, the Conrad H. Hilton Foundation and the International Union of Superiors General.

The winners are being honored as representatives of their congregations and networks, “who have demonstrated exceptional courage, creativity, collaboration and achievement in the protection of their communities from human trafficking,” Arise said.

Martin Foley, executive director of Arise, said that “across countless high-risk regions, we find challenging, unglamorous but highly effective anti-trafficking work being carried out by Catholic sisters.”

“The work includes survivor rehabilitation, income generation, school enrollment, community vigilance projects, and awareness campaigns. It’s high time these efforts were celebrated and learned from,” Foley said.

Sister Patricia Murray of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is executive secretary of International Union of Superiors General, said that “while the awards honor sisters for their courage and creativity, collaboration with many people from different faith traditions and with women and men of goodwill is key to combating the scourge of human trafficking which disfigures human dignity.”