St. Bakhita’s day observes prayer service to end trafficking

NAGA CITY -- Commemorating the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, the patroness of human trafficking victims, the “Third International Day of Prayer and Awareness on Human Trafficking” was held at the Good Shepherd Chapel of the Holy Rosary Major Seminary last February 9, this year, with the theme, “They are God’s Children, Not Slaves!” The said prayer activity was spearheaded by the Caceres Office for Women and Children in Crisis (COWCC) in response to the call of Pope Francis to pray for the victims of trafficking and for those who work to combat it. According to Fr. Xavier Amoroso, the director of the said office, quoting the document issued by Vatican during the First International Day of Prayer and Awareness on Human Trafficking, “the primary objective of this activity is ‘to create greater awareness on this phenomenon and to reflect on the overall situation of violence and injustice that affect so many people, who have no voice, do not count, and are no one because they are simply slaves’”. About 245 participants from the different parishes, religious congregations, schools and youth groups came to join the said activity which began with an “Awareness Seminar on Violence against Women and Children and Human Trafficking” given by Prosecutor Zhella A. Monserate, Senior Assistant Provincial Prosecutor of Camarines Sur, who is also a member of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and Zonta Club of Naga and Camarines Sur. The said talk was followed by a Eucharistic Celebration in honor of St. Jospehine Bakhita which was presided over by Most Rev. Rolando J. Tria Tirona, Archbishop of Caceres. The launching of the “Kasurog kan mga Kababaihan asin mga Kaakian sa Parokya” or 3KP was also held during the Mass. 3KP is the parish community watchdog of the COWCC which will also serve as the office’s advocacy arm in the parochial level.