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The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time coincides with the feast of Saint Josephine Bakhita, who is the patron saint of victims of human trafficking. Josephine was born in 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. As a child, she was kidnapped and sold into slavery by Arab slave traders. During her time in captivity, she lived as a slave for 12 years and endured a life of immense suffering. Everyone has a name or, in the slave trade, a number. The name the Arab slave traders gave her was Bakhita, which in Arabic means fortunate. This was a joke; of course, she was in no way fortunate to be a slave. After several years of slavery, Bakhita was placed in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice. It was here that Bakhita came to learn about God. She found faith through the love and charity of the sisters who rescued her. She was deeply moved by their example and prayer and discerned a call to follow Christ. Bakhita was baptised 1890 at the age of 21 and entered religious life, taking the name Josephine, which means God will add or God will increase. The Canossian Sisters’ various attributes and work are to be teachers of education and human rights promotion, evangelisation and faith formation, and pastoral care among the suffering. Not only is this Sunday a day of prayer for victims of human trafficking, but also a reminder of the Church’s social teaching, that all men and women have an equal dignity as sons and daughters of God. The Church teaches us that reducing human beings to products for trade, profit, or any kind of exploitation violates the 7th Commandment. It is considered a severe violation of human dignity. What can we do? As Catholics, we are urged to be conscious of the origins of products we consume and to avoid supporting labour exploitation. If you want to know more about how the Church is supporting and promoting change, please have a look at this website: https://santamartagroup.org/
POPE LEO XIV'S MESSAGE: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/pont-messages/2026/documents/20260129-messaggio-contro-tratta.html Comments are closed.
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