The ministry of Talitha Kum International: abolish human trafficking

 

Talitha Kum International 2025 Annual Report  (Talitha Kum International)

Church

• human trafficking

Human Trafficking in modern-day: No one should be treated as a commodity

Talitha Kum International releases their 2025 Annual Report, revealing how human trafficking is growing hand-in-hand with the rise of technology: online exploitation and scams have become a 21st century means of entrapping people.

By Kielce Gussie

While “traditional” chattel slavery has been legally abolished, about 50 million people find themselves trapped in modern-day slavery.

Moreover, these practices of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation are a massive money-making scheme, generating $236 billion in illegal profits each year, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization of Migration (IOM).

Rather than slowing down in an ever-growing modern world, “this issue of human trafficking is increasing in a complex way,” Sr. Abby Avelino, MM, International Coordinator of Talitha Kum stressed to Vatican News ahead of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30. This year's theme is "Trapped Behind the Scam." 

Sisters all around the world partake in the mission to end human trafficking (Talitha Kum International)

Prior to the World Day, the international sisters-run network Talitha Kum released its 2025 Annual Report, outlining how they reached 1.21 million people around the world over the last year—a 29.6% increase from 2024.

Yet, even with the growing reach of Talitha Kum, the mission of ending human trafficking remains urgent as numbers are on the rise across Europe and Asia.

Pros and cons of technology

The 2025 Annual Report reveals human trafficking growing hand-in-hand with the rise of new technologies: online exploitation and scams have become a 21st-century means of ensnaring people.

“Many of the survivors that we encounter are being trapped on this issue of the complexity of the digital platforms,” Sr. Abby highlighted.

Survivors share stories of promises and recruitments online. Yet, when they arrive at the location, the job is fake, their passport is taken, and their freedom stripped

“This is the trend right now,” Sr. Abby explained. “The digital platform is being used by criminal organizations to trap young people because young people really would like to find better futures, better jobs.”

She is not the only advocate identifying the connection in online threats. The Director General of the International Organization for Migration, Amy Pope, spoke at a press briefing on July 28 about the increase in cases of online scam centers, “with victims from over 80 different countries, particularly across Asia.”

Pope explained the magnitude of human trafficking is immense. The New United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports billions of U.S. dollars in combined annual losses from scam offences. Across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, scam compounds are thought to have hundreds of thousands of trafficked workers.

Combatting the scams

One way Talitha Kum is working to fight these scams is by educating the very people who are the targets of online trafficking—young people. “We are trying to mobilize our network to educate not only young people, but anyone who can be trapped on these digital platforms,” the International Coordinator noted.

Through Talitha Kum’s Youth Ambassadors program, Sr. Abby said young people are trained and taught about human trafficking, how to identify it, and how to face it. Then, these ambassadors are sent out in their local communities and countries to help their peers do the same.

As traffickers have turned to using social media platforms, Talitha Kum in turn wants to counteract this through the same platforms. The network has created social media accounts, TV, and radio programs to educate the public about the dangers of human trafficking online.

Part of the solution

While the 2025 Annual Report dives into a number of areas regarding trafficking—from prevention and supporting survivors to access to justice, partnership and advocacy—Sr. Abby highlighted one in particular: support for the survivors.

Survivors are part of the solution. “It is not about rescuing,” she stressed. “We also need to give a platform to the survivors, for their needs, for opportunities, and for ongoing accompaniment in a really sustainable way.”

Together with this “survivor-centered approach”, Sr. Abby called for systemic change, which means addressing the root causes of the crime of human trafficking—why people fall into the trap and relocate to find a better future.

“People move because of poverty. People move because of inequality. People really move because of conflict. This is why we need to walk together in order to really build a world without human trafficking,” the International Coordinator stressed.

But the work to end this crime starts from the grassroots level, especially because, as Sr. Abby highlighted, the “global trend of traffickers is getting complex.” Therefore, prevention, advocacy, support for the survivors, and protection are essential.

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is held on July 30 with the theme "Trapped Behind the Scam."   (Talitha Kum International)

Yet, more than that, she argued people everywhere and from all walks of life must call on local and world leaders to address the root causes perpetuating human trafficking.

Education is key

While an end to this crime is possible, it cannot be done by one person, one country, or one network alone. Education is one of the keys that will unlock the door.

“Even children, as young as possible, need to learn how the issue of human trafficking is spreading, not in the global context, not in the local context, but also in any aspect, on any level,” the International Coordinator argued.

Sr. Abby stresses that "even children, as young as possible, need to learn how the issue of human trafficking is spreading"

What is also essential to bringing an end to this global crime is recognizing that beyond the numbers, beyond the data are people, stories, and lives impacted. This is why working together is at the core of the mission of Talitha Kum.

This is at the heart of the mission of Talitha Kum: “No one is ever treated as a commodity.”

In Tenerife before he completes his Apostolic Journey, Pope Leo XIV tells traffickers: Stop, Repent or face divine justice

 

Pope Leo meets with organisations working with migrants, Tenerife, Spain  (@Vatican Media)

Pope

• Pope Leo XIV
• migrants and refugees
• Spain
• apostolic journey

Pope to human traffickers: Repent! Divine justice awaits you

Meeting organizations working with migrants in Tenerife, Pope Leo XIV calls integration a shared responsibility that restores dignity and belonging, while urging human traffickers to repent before facing divine justice.

Vatican News

Pope Leo has once again called for a renewed commitment to migrant integration insisting that welcome must go beyond emergency assistance and become a process that restores dignity, belonging and opportunity.

Addressing Church groups, charities and civil organizations in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Friday, during the final day of his Apostolic Journey to Spain, the Pope reflected on the role the Canary Islands continue to play as one of Europe's principal migration routes.

The meeting took place in Plaza del Cristo de La Laguna, in Tenerife, where the Pope praised the work of organizations accompanying migrants after their arrival on the islands and challenged societies to move beyond fear and indifference.

"A city without walls"

Beginning his address, Pope Leo referred to a description he had heard of La Laguna as "a city without walls." The image, he suggested, points to a deeper challenge. He explained that "the barriers that are the hardest to break down are not always made of stone" and that instead they "sometimes they lie in our attitudes, in fear or in indifference."

The Canary Islands have become one of the European Union's busiest migration frontiers in recent years. Located around 100 kilometers off the northwestern coast of Africa, the Spanish archipelago is often the first European territory reached by migrants and refugees departing from countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Gambia.

The Atlantic route is considered one of the world's most dangerous migration corridors, with thousands attempting the crossing each year in overcrowded and often unseaworthy boats. Many arrive exhausted after days or weeks at sea, while countless others never complete the journey.

"The sea which surrounds these islands brings us stories that we do not always know how to interpret: stories of pain, of hope and of searching," the Pope said.

Pope Leo XIV during the meeting (@Vatican Media)

Learning to see differently

Pope Leo's reflection emphasized the idea that integration requires a different way of seeing. Drawing on the example of Braille and tactile forms of communication, he suggested that people must learn to "read" the lives of migrants through closeness and encounter rather than statistics or administrative categories.

"There are those whose gazes see and yet do not recognize," he said. "They turn a face into a number, a story into a file and a difference into distance." Instead, he argued, the Gospel teaches a way of seeing rooted in patience, accompaniment and practical solidarity.

Beyond charity

The Pope went on to stress that solidarity cannot be reduced to philanthropy or occasional acts of generosity. "Welcome opens the door; integration helps one cross the threshold," he said. "Assistance applies a salve to the wound, and integration rebuilds the future."

He went on to reject approaches that either force migrants to abandon their identity or encourage communities to live separately without meaningful interaction. Rather, integration, he explained, is "a reciprocal journey" in which newcomers learn the language, laws and customs of their new home while those receiving them learn to widen their horizons without losing their own identity.

Addressing migrants directly, Pope Leo encouraged each person to participate fully in the life of their new communities and to offer their talents and experiences for the common good.

More than a problem to be managed

Pope Leo also challenged attitudes that reduce migration to political or administrative questions. He explained that "we are speaking, above all, of people created in the image and likeness of God," he said, "rather than legal categories or problems to be managed."

He then reflected on some of the testimonies he had heard just moments before, including those of two migrant men named Khalid and Mbacke. The Pope noted that many people arriving on the islands are searching not only for safety but also for the possibility of rebuilding their lives. "They are looking for someone to tell them through actions rather than with words: your life is not a waste; your suffering is not invisible; your dignity has not been washed away in the waters you have crossed."

At the same time, he added, they seek opportunities to work, contribute and participate, rather than remaining permanently defined by vulnerability.

Preventing a "second shipwreck"

Pope Leo then went on to speak about what he described as a "silent shipwreck" that can occur after migrants arrive safely. While many die attempting to cross the sea, he said, others face isolation, exploitation and exclusion after reaching their destination.

"There is also a silent shipwreck that occurs after arrival," he warned, describing those left "without a voice, without ties, work or a sense of security."

"Integration means preventing that second shipwreck", he said.  For this reason, he praised the work of diocesan Caritas, migration offices, parishes and local organizations that accompany migrants beyond the immediate emergency phase and help them establish stable lives within society.

A warning to traffickers

Pope Leo then turned his appeal towards those who profit from migration and human suffering. Addressing human traffickers, exploiters and criminal networks involved in the movement and abuse of vulnerable people. "Stop. Repent," he said. "For every life lost, every family deceived, everybody subjugated, every woman threatened, every worker exploited, you will have to appear before divine justice", he said. 

He then condemned those who organize dangerous migration routes, exploit workers, threaten women and profit from desperation, warning that "the tears and blood of these brothers and sisters cry out to God."

"The money wrested from the vulnerability of the poor will bring neither peace, nor honor, nor a future," he added, before urging those responsible to free those they exploit, return what has been taken and seek reconciliation before it is too late.

A Christian response

The Pope then went on to remind those present that integration cannot be viewed solely as a social project.

Along with practical support such as housing, language assistance, employment and legal protection, migrants should encounter Christian communities capable of offering friendship, witness and accompaniment. "A Church that welcomes is also a Church that proclaims," he said, stressing that the Gospel must be shared "without imposing" it and always with respect for freedom of conscience.

Bringing his address to a close, Pope Leo pointed to the Holy Family's flight into Egypt as a lasting symbol for migrants and refugees throughout history.

"The Holy Family of Nazareth," he concluded, "remains for all time a model and refuge for every refugee family, every migrant and every person forced to leave their homeland."

Pope Leo XIV statement for World Day against Human Trafficking

 

File photo of Pope Leo XIV  (@Vatican Media)

Pope

• Pope Leo XIV
• message
• human trafficking

Pope Leo denounces human trafficking as a ‘crime against humanity’

Pope Leo XIV releases a message to mark the 12th World Day against Human Trafficking and pledges the Catholic Church’s commitment to confront and bring an end to this “grave crime against humanity.”

By Devin Watkins

Ahead of the 12th World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, Pope Leo XIV has condemned the scourge of modern slavery, which has taken even more disturbing forms in our online societies.

In his message for the World Day, marked on Sunday, February 8, the Pope renewed the Church’s “urgent call to confront and bring an end to this grave crime against humanity.”

He focused on the Risen Christ’s greeting “Peace be with you,” saying these words offer “a path toward a renewed humanity.”

“True peace begins with the recognition and protection of the God-given dignity of every person,” he said. “Yet, in an age marked by escalating violence, many are tempted to seek peace through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion.”

Human beings, he lamented, are often considered mere collateral damage in war as they are sacrificed for political or economic interests.

Pope Leo said the same disregard for human life fuels human trafficking, since armed conflict and geopolitical instability create opportunities for traffickers to exploit people on the move.

“Within this broken paradigm, women and children are the most impacted by this heinous trade,” he said.

The Pope went on to note the rise in “cyber slavery,” which sees people lured into online schemes and criminal activities like drug smuggling and fraud.

“The victim is coerced into assuming the role of perpetrator, exacerbating their spiritual wounds,” he said. “These forms of violence are not isolated incidents, but symptoms of a culture that has forgotten how to love as Christ loves.”

In the face of such pain and societal challenges, Christians must turn to prayer and awareness, said Pope Leo.

Prayer, he noted, is the “small flame” that gives us strength to resist injustice and indifference, while awareness helps us identify and overcome exploitative systems in communities and digital spaces.

“Ultimately, the violence of human trafficking can be overcome only through a renewed vision that beholds every individual as a beloved child of God,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV expressed his gratitude to the many people and networks that work to assist victims of human trafficking, some of whom are themselves survivors of the scourge.

In conclusion, the Pope entrusted the World Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking to the intercession of St. Josephine Bakhita, whose life, he said, stands “as a powerful witness of hope in the Lord who loved her to the end.”

“Let us all join the journey toward a world where peace is not merely the absence of war, but is ‘unarmed and disarming,’ rooted in full respect for the dignity of all.

USCCB issues a "Special Message" in support of immigrants and condemnation of current U.S. policy, including mass deportation

 

At their annual meeting, Catholic bishops were largely united in their statement about the federal crackdown on illegal immigration.Credit...Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press

U.S. Bishops Issue a “Special Message” on Immigration from Plenary Assembly in Baltimore

The bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. It marked the first time in twelve years the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops.

BALTIMORE – As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, the bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. It marked the first time in twelve years the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops. The last one issued in 2013 was in response to the federal government’s contraceptive mandate.

Under the regulations pertaining to statements and publications of the Conference, a “Special Message” may only be issued at plenary assemblies, and they are statements which the President of the Conference, the Administrative Committee, or the general membership consider to be appropriate in view of the circumstances at the time. To show the consensus of the body, a Special Message must receive two-thirds of the Conference members present and voting at the plenary in order to pass. In a vote of 216 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 3 abstentions, the bishops overwhelmingly approved the Special Message, with sustained applause of the body following the vote.

The full text of the bishops’ Special Pastoral Message follows:

As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones. 

Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.

Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants. We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.

We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good. Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks.

The Church’s teaching rests on the foundational concern for the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). As pastors, we look to Sacred Scripture and the example of the Lord Himself, where we find the wisdom of God’s compassion. The priority of the Lord, as the Prophets remind us, is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10). In the Lord Jesus, we see the One who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9), we see the Good Samaritan who lifts us from the dust (Luke 10:30–37), and we see the One who is found in the least of these (Matthew 25). The Church’s concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants is a response to the Lord’s command to love as He has loved us (John 13:34).

To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone!

We note with gratitude that so many of our clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful already accompany and assist immigrants in meeting their basic human needs. We urge all people of good will to continue and expand such efforts. 

We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with public and elected officials. In this dialogue, we will continue to advocate for meaningful immigration reform. 

As disciples of the Lord, we remain men and women of hope, 
and hope does not disappoint! (cf. Romans 5:5)

May the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe enfold us all in her maternal and loving care and draw us ever closer to the heart of Christ.

Pope Leo XIV meets with those battling and overcoming various addictions

 

Pope Leo XIV welcomes participants in the World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2025  (@Vatican Media)

Pope

• Pope Leo XIV
• hope
• jesus

Pope: 'God does great things with those He frees from evil'

On the World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Pope Leo XIV offers words of comfort to everyone battling an addiction, recalling that though drug use can be a sort of "invisible prison" difficult to escape, we are called to freedom.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"Drugs and addictions are an invisible prison that you, in different ways, have known and fought, but we are all called to freedom."

Pope Leo XIV stressed this on the World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, observed every June 26, during an audience in the Vatican's Courtyard of San Damaso.

The Pope thanked all who made the meeting possible, especially during the Jubilee, "a year of grace in which dignity, too often diminished or denied, is recognized for all." 

The World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was declared by the United Nations to raise awareness of the major problem illicit drugs represent to society. Each year, the Day aims to strengthen global action and cooperation toward achieving a world free of drug abuse and is marked by campaigns, educational events, and community efforts to support prevention, treatment, and recovery. 

In his remarks, the Pope stressed that all of society needs a jolt to confront this phenomenon, saying the world "needs your testimony and the great work you are doing."

"Let us move forward together," he said, "multiplying places of healing, encounter, and education: pastoral paths and social policies that begin in the streets and never write anyone off."

Jesus recreated the Apostles

The Pope called on everyone struggling with an addiction to maintain hope, not "as a slogan," "but as a light rediscovered through great effort," and guaranteed by the Lord's transformative words of peace to us all.

Jesus, he recalled, had delivered this peace to the disciples who were locked in the Upper Room on Easter night, after they had abandoned Him, were afraid and disheartened.

"It was Jesus," Pope Leo recalled, who "found them again, who came once more in search of them," entering, "even with the doors shut, into the place where they were as if buried alive. He brought peace, recreated them with forgiveness, and breathed on them—meaning, He gave them the Holy Spirit, which is the breath of God within us."

When we lack perspective, Jesus comes to us

"When we lack air, when we lack perspective, our dignity withers," he said. "Let us not forget that the Risen Jesus still comes and brings His breath!"

The Lord, Pope Leo reassured, often does so through people who go beyond our closed doors, and who, despite everything that may have happened, still see the dignity we have forgotten or that was denied us.

Even if "drugs and addictions are an invisible prison that you, in different ways, have known and fought," he said, "we are all called to freedom."

“When we lack air, when we lack perspective, let us not forget that the Risen Jesus still comes and brings His breath.”

God is close to me

The Pope recalled that St. Augustine confessed that "only in Christ did the restlessness of his heart find peace," and called for togetherness, especially that which comes from God, to overcome evil and injustice.

"God, who created and knows each person," Pope Leo reassured, "is closer to me than I am to myself" and He "made us to be together."

Eliminating despair

The Pope noted that the struggle "cannot be abandoned" as long as "anyone around us remains imprisoned by the many forms of addiction," as he also warned against those who use drugs and other dependencies to create business opportunities.

In particular, he lamented the vast concentrations of interest and sprawling criminal organizations "that States have a duty to dismantle."

"Our cities," he stressed, "do not need to be freed from the marginalized, but from marginalization; not cleaned of the desperate, but of despair."

The Holy Father said the Jubilee shows us the culture of encounter "as the path to true security," and told young people to not be spectators of the Earth's greatly-needed renewal, but rather "protagonists."

God does great things with those He frees from evil

The Pope recalled that "God does great things with those He frees from evil," and of the Psalm which recalls, “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.”

“God does great things with those He frees from evil ... The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.”

In this context, Pope Leo highlighted how Jesus was rejected and crucified outside the gates of His city. "On Him, the cornerstone on which God rebuilds the world," the Pope encouraged, "you too are precious stones in the building of a new humanity."

You are needed

The Church, humanity, education, and politics need you, the Pope said.

"Together, over every degrading addiction," Pope Leo XIV underscored, "we will make the infinite dignity impressed upon each person prevail."

Pope Leo XIV meets participants in the World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking   (@VATICAN MEDIA)