Hope for Human Trafficking

Presidential Proclamation -- National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

NATIONAL SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION MONTH, 2016
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

One hundred and fifty years ago, our Nation codified the fundamental truth that slavery is an affront to human dignity. Still, the bitter fact remains that millions of men, women, and children around the globe, including here at home, are subject to modern-day slavery: the cruel, inhumane practice of human trafficking. This month, we rededicate ourselves to assisting victims of human trafficking and to combating it in all its forms.

Human trafficking occurs in countries throughout the world and in communities across our Nation. Children are forced to fight as soldiers, young people are coerced into prostitution, and migrants are exploited. People from all walks of life are trafficked every day, and the United States is committed to remaining a leader in the global movement to end this abhorrent practice. My Administration has made addressing human trafficking issues in supply chains a priority. Earlier this year, the White House brought together private sector and non-governmental organizations to discuss ways to prevent and eliminate trafficking-related activities in Federal contracts and in private sector supply chains. Our National Convening on Trafficking and Child Welfare helped promote partnership and establish coordinated action plans to end human trafficking. Additionally, my Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons has proposed a robust set of initiatives. Our anti-trafficking efforts are supported by a newly established Federal Office on Trafficking in Persons, under the Department of Health and Human Services, which helps ensure trafficking victims can access the services they need.

As we work to end human trafficking here in the United States, we will continue to lead the effort to root it out around the world. Our intelligence teams have devoted more resources to identifying trafficking networks, law enforcement officers have been working to dismantle those networks, and prosecutors have striven to punish traffickers. We have also enhanced our domestic protections so foreign-born workers better understand their rights. Additionally, my Administration has been working closely with technology companies and law enforcement to better utilize technology to combat human trafficking. And our Nation will continue promoting development and economic growth across the globe to address the underlying conditions that enable human trafficking in the first place.

All nations have a part to play in keeping our world safe for all people -- regardless of age, background, or belief. During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, let us recognize the victims of trafficking, and let us resolve to build a future in which its perpetrators are brought to justice and no people are denied their inherent human rights of freedom and dignity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 2016 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, culminating in the annual celebration of National Freedom Day on February 1. I call upon businesses, national and community organizations, families, and all Americans to recognize the vital role we can play in ending all forms of slavery and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.

BARACK OBAMA

source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/31/presidential-proclamation-national-slavery-and-human-trafficking 

Mensaje del Papa Francisco para el Dia Mundial de Paz

Dios no es indiferente. A Dios le importa la humanidad, Dios no la abandona.

Al comienzo del nuevo año, quisiera acompañar con esta profunda convicción los mejores deseos de abundantes bendiciones y de paz, en el signo de la esperanza, para el futuro de cada hombre y cada mujer, de cada familia, pueblo y nación del mundo, así como para los Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno y de los Responsables de las religiones. Por tanto, no perdamos la esperanza de que 2016 nos encuentre a todos firme y confiadamente comprometidos, en realizar la justicia y trabajar por la paz en los diversos ámbitos. Sí, la paz es don de Dios y obra de los hombres. La paz es don de Dios, pero confiado a todos los hombres y a todas las mujeres, llamados a llevarlo a la práctica.

Las guerras y los atentados terroristas, con sus trágicas consecuencias, los secuestros de personas, las persecuciones por motivos étnicos o religiosos, las prevaricaciones, han marcado de hecho el año pasado, de principio a fin, multiplicándose dolorosamente en muchas regiones del mundo, hasta asumir las formas de la que podría llamar una «tercera guerra mundial en fases». Pero algunos acontecimientos de los años pasados y del año apenas concluido me invitan, en la perspectiva del nuevo año, a renovar la exhortación a no perder la esperanza en la capacidad del hombre de superar el mal, con la gracia de Dios, y a no caer en la resignación y en la indiferencia. Los acontecimientos a los que me refiero representan la capacidad de la humanidad de actuar con solidariedad, más allá de los intereses individualistas, de la apatía y de la indiferencia ante las situaciones críticas.

Quisiera recordar entre dichos acontecimientos el esfuerzo realizado para favorecer el encuentro de los líderes mundiales en el ámbito de la COP 21, con la finalidad de buscar nuevas vías para afrontar los cambios climáticos y proteger el bienestar de la Tierra, nuestra casa común. Esto nos remite a dos eventos precedentes de carácter global: La Conferencia Mundial de Addis Abeba para recoger fondos con el objetivo de un desarrollo sostenible del mundo, y la adopción por parte de las Naciones Unidas de la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible, con el objetivo de asegurar para ese año una existencia más digna para todos, sobre todo para las poblaciones pobres del planeta.

El año 2015 ha sido también especial para la Iglesia, al haberse celebrado el 50 aniversario de la publicación de dos documentos del Concilio Vaticano II que expresan de modo muy elocuente el sentido de solidaridad de la Iglesia con el mundo. El papa Juan XXIII, al inicio del Concilio, quiso abrir de par en par las ventanas de la Iglesia para que fuese más abierta la comunicación entre ella y el mundo. Los dos documentos, Nostra aetate y Gaudium et spes, son expresiones emblemáticas de la nueva relación de diálogo, solidaridad y acompañamiento que la Iglesia pretendía introducir en la humanidad. En la Declaración Nostra aetate, la Iglesia ha sido llamada a abrirse al diálogo con las expresiones religiosas no cristianas. En la Constitución pastoral Gaudium et spes, desde el momento que «los gozos y las esperanzas, las tristezas y las angustias de los hombres de nuestro tiempo, sobre todo de los pobres y de cuantos sufren, son a la vez gozos y esperanzas, tristezas y angustias de los discípulos de Cristo»[1], la Iglesia deseaba instaurar un diálogo con la familia humana sobre los problemas del mundo, como signo de solidaridad y de respetuoso afecto[2].

En esta misma perspectiva, con el Jubileo de la Misericordia, deseo invitar a la Iglesia a rezar y trabajar para que todo cristiano pueda desarrollar un corazón humilde y compasivo, capaz de anunciar y testimoniar la misericordia, de «perdonar y de dar», de abrirse «a cuantos viven en las más contradictorias periferias existenciales, que con frecuencia el mundo moderno dramáticamente crea», sin caer «en la indiferencia que humilla, en la habitualidad que anestesia el ánimo e impide descubrir la novedad, en el cinismo que destruye»[3].

Hay muchas razones para creer en la capacidad de la humanidad que actúa conjuntamente en solidaridad, en el reconocimiento de la propia interconexión e interdependencia, preocupándose por los miembros más frágiles y la protección del bien común. Esta actitud de corresponsabilidad solidaria está en la raíz de la vocación fundamental a la fraternidad y a la vida común. La dignidad y las relaciones interpersonales nos constituyen como seres humanos, queridos por Dios a su imagen y semejanza. Como creaturas dotadas de inalienable dignidad, nosotros existimos en relación con nuestros hermanos y hermanas, ante los que tenemos una responsabilidad y con los cuales actuamos en solidariedad. Fuera de esta relación, seríamos menos humanos. Precisamente por eso, la indiferencia representa una amenaza para la familia humana. Cuando nos encaminamos por un nuevo año, deseo invitar a todos a reconocer este hecho, para vencer la indiferencia y conquistar la paz.

Seguir leyendo todo el mensaje aqui

Y revisa este resumen con ideas de tomar accion del USCCB en los Estados Unidos

Oración para Vencer la Indiferencia

Con demasiada frecuencia, Señor, damos la espalda a los muchos problemas del mundo, que parecen demasiado grandes, demasiado complejos o demasiado lejanos. Perdónanos nuestra indiferencia. Es más fácil, Señor, ver solamente lo que nos rodea: nuestras vidas, nuestros hogares, nuestros desafíos. Perdónanos nuestro aislamiento. Ayúdanos a ver con tus ojos: ojos para fijarnos el uno en el otro y para ayudarnos a entender. Ayúdanos a soñar tu sueño: de comunidades que se acercan y dialogan y donde diversas personas cooperan creativamente. Ayúdanos a ser personas solidarias y de acción, tan conmovidas por la oración, el encuentro y la comprensión que la paz pueda hacerse realidad. Amén.

Pope Francis' Message for World Day of Peace

God is not indifferent! God cares about mankind! God does not abandon us! At the beginning of the New Year, I would like to share not only this profound conviction but also my cordial good wishes for prosperity, peace and the fulfillment of the hopes of every man and every woman, every family, people and nation throughout the world, including all Heads of State and Government and all religious leaders. We continue to trust that 2016 will see us all firmly and confidently engaged, on different levels, in the pursuit of justice and peace. Peace is both God’s gift and a human achievement. As a gift of God, it is entrusted to all men and women, who are called to attain it.

Sadly, war and terrorism, accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or religious persecution and the misuse of power, marked the past year from start to finish. In many parts of the world, these have became so common as to constitute a real “third world war fought piecemeal”. Yet some events of the year now ending inspire me, in looking ahead to the new year, to encourage everyone not to lose hope in our human ability to conquer evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They demonstrate our capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy and indifference in the face of critical situations.

Here I would mention the efforts to bring world leaders together at COP21 in the search for new ways to confront climate change and to protect the earth, our common home. We can also think of two earlier global events: the Addis Ababa Summit for funding sustainable development worldwide and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at ensuring a more dignified standard of living for all the world’s peoples, especially the poor, by that year.

For the Church, 2015 was a special year, since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of two documents of the Second Vatican Council which eloquently expressed her sense of solidarity with the world. Pope John XXIII, at the beginning of the Council, wanted to open wide the windows of the Church and to improve her communication with the world. The two documents, Nostra Aetate andGaudium et Spes, are emblematic of the new relationship of dialogue, solidarity and accompaniment which the Church sought to awaken within the human family. In the Declaration Nostra Aetate, the Church expressed her openness to dialogue with non-Christian religions. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, based on a recognition that “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well”,[1] the Church proposed to enter into dialogue with the entire human family about the problems of our world, as a sign of solidarity, respect and affection.[2]

Along these same lines, with the present Jubilee of Mercy I want to invite the Church to pray and work so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart, one capable of proclaiming and witnessing to mercy. It is my hope that all of us will learn to “forgive and give”, to become more open “to those living on the outermost fringes of society - fringes which modern society itself creates”, and to refuse to fall into “a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive cynicism!”[3]

There are many good reasons to believe in mankind’s capacity to act together in solidarity and, on the basis of our interconnection and interdependence, to demonstrate concern for the more vulnerable of our brothers and sisters and for the protection of the common good. This attitude of mutual responsibility is rooted in our fundamental vocation to fraternity and a life in common. Personal dignity and interpersonal relationships are what constitute us as human beings whom God willed to create in his own image and likeness. As creatures endowed with inalienable dignity, we are related to all our brothers and sisters, for whom we are responsible and with whom we act in solidarity. Lacking this relationship, we would be less human. We see, then, how indifference represents a menace to the human family. As we approach a new year, I would ask everyone to take stock of this reality, in order to overcome indifference and to win peace.

Continue reading the full message here  

And check out this resource by the USCCB with summary and action items HERE 


PRAYER TO OVERCOME INDIFFERENCE
All too often, Lord, we turn away from the world’s many problems, which seem too big, too complex, or too far away. Forgive us our indifference. It is easier, Lord, to see only what is around us: our lives, our homes, our challenges. Forgive us our isolation. Help us to see with your eyes: eyes which notice one another and help us understand. Help us to dream your dream: of communities that reach out and dialogue and where diverse people creatively cooperate. Help us to be people of solidarity and action, so moved by prayer, encounter, and understanding that peace can become a reality. Amen.

An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind

A reflection by John Dear, Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace 

"Jesus wants us to break the downward cycle of violence by refusing to practice further violence. Violence in response to violence will only lead to further violence, he teaches, so do not retaliate with further violence. Break the chain of violence. Stop the killing. Later, he calls us to become instead people of universal love and compassion.

Does that mean sitting back and do nothing in the face of violence? No, quite the contrary. Jesus also forbids passive resignation or indifference to evil. Instead, he demands an active, creative nonviolent response that will disarm our violent opponent without using their violent means. We resist violence but don’t use the means of violence, so we do not end up becoming a mirror image of our violent opponent. Through our nonviolent resistance, we insist on the truth of our common humanity, until through our suffering love, the opponent’s heart melts, scales fall from his eyes, he repents of his violence and agrees to treat us with respect as human beings.

When someone strikes you on the right cheek, Jesus says for example, turn the other one to him as well. As we ponder that teaching, we notice that it’s not possible to strike someone on the right cheek. A right-handed blow in a right-handed world would land on the left cheek, so Jesus is talking about something different—about humiliation and oppression. The only way to strike someone’s right cheek with your right hand would have been to use the back of your hand. This is what a Roman soldier standing over a subdued peasant would do. He would slap him with the back of his hand to humiliate him. But Jesus taught his disciples to resist such violent humiliation and top down oppression. Do not be humiliated. Do not be oppressed. Do not let others continue their violence upon you. Be creative. Take action. Turn the other cheek and show the Roman that you are a human being, that you demand to be treated as a human being, that you do not accept his violence. Then watch him back off in dismay.

During the retreat, we looked at Jesus’ many teachings and examples of nonviolence. On Sunday, we studied Luke 10, where he sends 72 disciples on a campaign of nonviolence, “as lambs into the midst of wolves,” to disarm the world and proclaim the coming of God’s reign of nonviolence. Throughout the weekend, as we studied the methodology and spirituality of active nonviolence, we also read the words of Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi.

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy,” Martin Luther King, Jr. taught. “Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Learn more and continue reading here: http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/12/30/reflection-an-eye-for-an-eye-makes-the-whole-world-blind/