Originally published at National Catholic Register
Human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum, Bishop Senior noted, but rather stems from issues and crises including immigration, drug addiction, labor violations, and pornography.
Harrisburg Bishop Timothy Senior is urging Catholics to combat human trafficking in Pennsylvania and beyond, calling on elected leaders to address the crisis and for citizens to take steps to fight it in their communities.
In a Dec. 29 pastoral letter, the first Senior has issued since becoming bishop of Harrisburg in June 2023, the prelate said he was “shocked and appalled” to learn about the extent of human trafficking “within our own diocesan territory.”
Within the diocese “there are networks of human trafficking, particularly along the main corridors of travel, enslaving many individuals through illicit indentured servitude,” the bishop wrote.
Human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum, Bishop Senior noted, but rather stems from issues and crises including immigration, drug addiction, labor violations, and pornography.
A 2024 joint report by the International Organization for Migration, the International Labor Organization, and the human rights group Walk Free found that on average more than 50 million people are enslaved in the world at any given time.
Bishop Senior told his diocese that trafficking
