In 2015, Pope Francis declared February 8th the Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. This date was chosen because it is the memorial of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese nun who endured the trauma of human trafficking as a child. The Talitha Kum network created by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) organizes the annual prayer resources, as well as ongoing formation and work to raise awareness and combat human trafficking. “Talitha Kum” is Aramaic for “Little girl, get up!” – a verse from the Gospel according to Mark (5:41) in which Jesus calls to life a girl who was thought to be dead.
Talitha Kum suggests the following prayer service to use on February 8th. You can download the complete PDF version, or an abridged version (Word) which will allow you to edit the document.
In Québec, religious communities created the CATHII (Comité d’action contre la traite humaine interne et internationale) 15 years ago as a response to the concerns of the UISG about human trafficking.
Let us pray for our sisters and brothers to be freed from exploitation and abuse, in our country and everywhere in the world.