New Vatican Declaration: Dignitas Infinita
Lviv, Ukraine - March 3, 2022: Having just disembarked a train, people walk with their luggage across the tracks in Lviv. On Monday, April 8th, The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released a declaration focused on human dignity, titled Dignitas Infinita, meaning infinite dignity. The document highlighted a wide range of [...]
Labeling for Lent: Stop Trafficking at Sea
Maritime trafficking is modern slavery at sea, a violation of the human dignity of laborers at all stages of the seafood supply chain and aquaculture industries. The virtually unregulated fishing industry in many countries, coupled with the global demand for cheap seafood, create the lawless conditions under which trafficking at [...]
Roundtable with the Louisiana Governor on Human Trafficking
Next stop: New Orleans, LA! Our Executive Director William, Bill Canny, went south to Louisiana with the Santa Marta Group, Hogan Lovells, and other organizations to discuss with Governor John Bel Edwards and First Lady Donna Edwards the issues of human trafficking. Earlier this year the Governor and his wife visited the USCCB, where [...]
JFI Biweekly Review: August 7-18, 2023
JFI Colleagues, Please see below for the latest updates from JFI. TAKE ACTION: JFI Action Alerts JFI has two active action alerts, one for the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act (PVIYA) and another for the Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA). In the last two weeks, Bishop Seitz sent letters on behalf of the USCCB in [...]
Movie Discussion Guide: The Sound of Freedom
(Available as a pdf) The Catholic Church’s Fight Against Human Trafficking The recently released movie, The Sound of Freedom, has hit a nerve, touching as it does on sensitive subjects of sexual slavery and child exploitation. It forces all of us to pay attention to the grave evil of human trafficking, challenges us to better [...]
Reflections from the US-Mexico border
Celina Marquez, a Policy Advisor with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Department of Migration and Refugee Services, visited the border the week that Title 42 ended. She reflects on her experience here: I arrived in El Paso on Wednesday, May 10. My visit was a part of a trip meant to observe [...]
Religious Sisters Combat Human Trafficking!
Sisters Carroll Ann Kemp and Carol Ries: religious leaders in the fight against human trafficking. Religious sisters have played a vital role against violence and human rights perpetrators. They have played a seminal role in their fight against exploitative practices related to human trafficking through advocacy, education, prayer, [...]
Debating Religion and Forced Migration – An Open Access Resource
What role does religion play in responding to forced migration crises around the world? As part of a new book published by Palgrave Publishing USCCB/MRS staff, Todd Scribner, has co-authored a chapter titled Religion Resettles Refugees: Religion's Role in Integration in the United States, which examines an ongoing initiative, the Religion and Resettlement Project, which [...]
Interview: On Human Trafficking with Radio Maria
Felicitas Brugo, Education Outreach Coordinator, USCCB/MRS Beginning in the Diocese of Milan, Italy in 1983, Radio Maria was focused on providing information to their parishioners and prayer through daily mass, the rosary holy hours and more. Soon, the show gained much traffic, and the World Family of Radio Maria began in 1998, and [...]