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The Catholic Church of Australia is calling on its citizens not to be indifferent to human ‎trafficking ‎and take simple steps to combatting global injustice.  The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Commission for Pastoral life (BCPL) and Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in ‎Humans ‎‎(ACRATH) are calling for a day of prayer, reflection and action against human trafficking on ‎‎8 ‎February, the Feast of St Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave who was rescued and later became ‎a ‎Canossian nun, and was declared a Saint in 2000.  Last year, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council ‎for ‎the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and ‎the ‎International Union of Superiors General, promoted the first “International Day of Prayer ‎and ‎Awareness against Human Trafficking”, or Bakhita Day, on Feb. 8.   

'In marking the Bakhita Day ‎of ‎prayer and fasting in this Year of Mercy, Australia's Catholics  ‎should be mindful of Pope Francis' challenge to us to stop human trafficking,” said BCPL chairman Bishop Terry Brady of Sydney. “We can all commit to learning more about human trafficking,” he said, adding, “We can commit to helping victims of  ‎ human trafficking. And we can commit to tackling the systems that enable human trafficking  ‎to flourish.”  ACRATH president, Religious Sister of Mercy Anne Tormey  ‎also added her voice saying, “This day can be an opportunity to learn  ‎about trafficking locally and globally, to pray for the victims of human trafficking and for an  ‎end to slavery, to commit to buying Fairtrade products where possible and to advocate for  legislation to protect victims of human trafficking.”  The BCPL and ACRATH are calling for 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 various sectors of society.  ‎ (Source: ACBC)

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