HARRISBURG, Pa. – Human trafficking is a real, local problem here in the south central Pennsylvania region. Recently, the Most Reverend Timothy C. Senior, Bishop of Harrisburg, released his first pastoral letter, Setting Captives Free: A Pastoral Letter on Human Trafficking, highlighting the challenges many women, children and men face right here in our communities.
“I have learned in the last year and a half as your Bishop, that the problem of human trafficking throughout the counties of the Diocese of Harrisburg is far more serious than many of us want to recognize. Along our highways and interstates, in our communities, and among our neighbors, there are persons enslaved to labor without the means of paying off imposed debts, forced into acts that degrade the sacred dignity of their humanity, and treated as chattel. They are often hidden, but their suffering cries out to heaven,” said Bishop Senior in his letter. “Now is the time for us to raise up our prophetic voice as God’s anointed people and proclaim their liberty, their dignity, and their hope for a new life while striving to become the instruments of God’s mercy and justice.”
To bring awareness to the issue of human trafficking and what responses are already taking place, the Diocese of Harrisburg will host a human trafficking awareness event on Monday, February 24th, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Harrisburg Diocesan Center, 4800 Union Deposit Road, Harrisburg.
This event is free and open to the public. Speakers include Felicitas Brugo Onetti, MSW, Ant-Trafficking Education and Outreach Coordinator with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Patty Seaman, Executive Director of Client Services for Peace Promise, a local organization that assists survivors of human trafficking. Bishop Senior will offer a brief prayer service at 6:30 p.m., with the presentations beginning at 7 p.m.
More details and registration for the event can be found at https://www.hbgdiocese.org/event/human-trafficking-awareness-event/. To read Bishop Senior’s pastoral letter on human trafficking, please visit https://www.hbgdiocese.org/humantrafficking.
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The Diocese of Harrisburg was established on March 3, 1868. It has 88 parishes, 6 missions, 2 communities, 33 Catholic schools, and is home to approximately 201,000 registered Catholics throughout its 15 counties. To learn more about the Diocese and its ministries, visit www.hbgdiocese.org.
