Pope Francis on September 26, 2019, repeated a common theme he has raised throughout his pontificate: the need to stop human trafficking
His remarks came in the Consistory Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, where he received the participants of the 1st General Assembly of Talitha Kum, a global network of consecrated life against trafficking. The assembly is taking place in Rome which takes place in Rome from September 21-27, 2019.
«Talitha Kum was born in 2001 from a missionary intuition of the International Union of Superiors General and is presented today as a worldwide network that coordinates the efforts of institutes of consecrated life committed against trafficking in persons,» the Pope recalled. «In just ten years it has come to coordinate 52 religious networks present in more than 90 countries on all continents.
‘The numbers of your service speak for themselves: two thousand workers, more than fifteen thousand victims of trafficking assisted and more than two hundred thousand people reached with prevention and awareness-raising activities.»
The Holy Father noted that human trafficking continues to be a horrible situation in the world and is related to the situation women face in many countries. He encouraged the group to continue and expand its efforts.