Parish social ministry’s latest focus is fight against human trafficking
May 6, 2024 at 9:20 a.m.
Parishioners at St. Rose Parish, Belmar, have the opportunity to learn more about human trafficking when Sister Meaghan
A tapestry portrait of St. Josephine Bakhita, an African slave who died in 1947, hangs from the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica during her canonization in 2000 at the Vatican. St. Bakhita was born in the Darfur region of what is now Sudan. Her feast day is Feb. 8, the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. OSV News photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters
The parish’s Justice and Peace Ministry, which is sponsoring the program, will also screen “Sound of Freedom,” a 2023 film in which a former U.S. government agent embarks on a mission to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia.
Cathy Sugden, ministry coordinator, said human trafficking is the latest social justice issue the parish has addressed. To inform themselves, parishioners reviewed Church documents and papal statements, as well as the work of the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking and New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith’s federal legislation to eliminate human trafficking.
St. Josephine Bakhita is the patron saint of victims of human trafficking, so the parish marked her Feb. 8 feast day with a service to pray for an end to human trafficking.
Some St. Rose Justice and Peace Ministry members participated in the University of North Carolina’s online Annual Human Trafficking Conference in March, and some attended local anti-trafficking events. Ministry members also are educating themselves more about federal legislation to prevent human trafficking.
Be the Change
Sugden said St. Rose Parish established the Justice and Peace Ministry three years ago to give parishioners a better understanding of Catholic Social Teaching and how it relates to what they do in terms of outreach and works of mercy in their parish.
“Our mission always includes the opportunity to encourage participation and engagement in advocacy in any ways we can to be part of the change needed to create a beloved community for everyone,” she said.
The ministry has offered a series on the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching; events and studies around Pope Francis’ “Season of Creation,” including when members participated in Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweeps; and a blessing of animals on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4.
The group also put together a four-week series on the Holy Father’s encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti;” a Lenten reflection on “The Way of the Cross Toward Justice and Peace,” in which members collaborated with the lector, altar server and music ministries, and they also hold “book circles,” with discussions “that lead to a deepening relationship with God from which flows the energy for mission, change and transformation that our world is so in need of today,” Sugden said.
“My thought is that we cannot do justice work without prayer and the book circles and the books we choose create opportunities to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus,” she added.
‘Wherever the Holy Spirit Guides Us’
Sugden said that the next topic to be addressed by the ministry has not yet been determined, but acknowledged that “there is a lot of social justice work to embrace that is rooted in the Gospel that involves serving the most vulnerable among us and working toward a more just society for all.”
“It will be wherever the Holy Spirit guides us,” she said.
“As a parish and a faith community, we need to be informed and committed to systematically supporting the transformation of our society to a more inclusive quality of life for all in need, especially the poor and vulnerable,” Sugden said. “I believe the Social Teachings of the Church guide us in doing this. Having a parish community of individuals and families committed to this work has far-reaching effects.”
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Parishioners at St. Rose Parish, Belmar, have the opportunity to learn more about human trafficking when Sister Meaghan
A tapestry portrait of St. Josephine Bakhita, an African slave who died in 1947, hangs from the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica during her canonization in 2000 at the Vatican. St. Bakhita was born in the Darfur region of what is now Sudan. Her feast day is Feb. 8, the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. OSV News photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters
The parish’s Justice and Peace Ministry, which is sponsoring the program, will also screen “Sound of Freedom,” a 2023 film in which a former U.S. government agent embarks on a mission to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia.
Cathy Sugden, ministry coordinator, said human trafficking is the latest social justice issue the parish has addressed. To inform themselves, parishioners reviewed Church documents and papal statements, as well as the work of the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking and New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith’s federal legislation to eliminate human trafficking.
St. Josephine Bakhita is the patron saint of victims of human trafficking, so the parish marked her Feb. 8 feast day with a service to pray for an end to human trafficking.
Some St. Rose Justice and Peace Ministry members participated in the University of North Carolina’s online Annual Human Trafficking Conference in March, and some attended local anti-trafficking events. Ministry members also are educating themselves more about federal legislation to prevent human trafficking.
Be the Change
Sugden said St. Rose Parish established the Justice and Peace Ministry three years ago to give parishioners a better understanding of Catholic Social Teaching and how it relates to what they do in terms of outreach and works of mercy in their parish.
“Our mission always includes the opportunity to encourage participation and engagement in advocacy in any ways we can to be part of the change needed to create a beloved community for everyone,” she said.
The ministry has offered a series on the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching; events and studies around Pope Francis’ “Season of Creation,” including when members participated in Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweeps; and a blessing of animals on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4.
The group also put together a four-week series on the Holy Father’s encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti;” a Lenten reflection on “The Way of the Cross Toward Justice and Peace,” in which members collaborated with the lector, altar server and music ministries, and they also hold “book circles,” with discussions “that lead to a deepening relationship with God from which flows the energy for mission, change and transformation that our world is so in need of today,” Sugden said.
“My thought is that we cannot do justice work without prayer and the book circles and the books we choose create opportunities to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus,” she added.
‘Wherever the Holy Spirit Guides Us’
Sugden said that the next topic to be addressed by the ministry has not yet been determined, but acknowledged that “there is a lot of social justice work to embrace that is rooted in the Gospel that involves serving the most vulnerable among us and working toward a more just society for all.”
“It will be wherever the Holy Spirit guides us,” she said.
“As a parish and a faith community, we need to be informed and committed to systematically supporting the transformation of our society to a more inclusive quality of life for all in need, especially the poor and vulnerable,” Sugden said. “I believe the Social Teachings of the Church guide us in doing this. Having a parish community of individuals and families committed to this work has far-reaching effects.”