Pope Francis on April 25, 2023, appointed Bishop Timothy Senior as bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. / Credit: Archdiocese of Philadelphia
CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2025 / 11:20 am (CNA).
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, 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.
Senior told his diocese that trafficking is “not a problem that only happens somewhere else.” The National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2023 ranked Pennsylvania as among the top 15 states for reported cases of human trafficking, he noted.
“Human trafficking is in our diocese,” the bishop said, in which “scared and exploited men, women, and children are forced into labor and degrading acts so that some people can make money, and others can take advantage of them for free or cheap labor and/or sexual gratification.”
Though the prelate admitted that the situation “sounds like a bleak assessment, and it is,” he called upon the faithful to “remove the blinders from our eyes” and work to bring about change.
The Pennsylvania bishops have repeatedly advocated legislation to combat trafficking, he said, but “this is not nearly enough.” Church authorities will “continue education efforts” and work through charity groups and other nonprofits, he said.
The faithful, meanwhile, can take numerous steps to combat trafficking, including refraining from sins such as watching pornography and patronizing prostitution, both industries rife with abuse and human traffic.
Sins that “directly erode the dignity of others” should be proactively addressed, he argued.
“Since these sins afflict young men at a greater percentage than young women, parents should have conversations with their sons and help them by setting up restrictions for the use of the internet and social media,” the bishop said, further urging fathers to “set good examples for their sons, especially in how they speak about women.”
Parents, meanwhile, should “speak to their children about their God-given dignity, empowering the next generations to recognize when a trafficker may be attempting to groom them.” And individuals should know when to spot signs of trafficking victims, he said, including signs of malnourishment and physical abuse.
The bishop expressed hope that the spirit of the jubilee year will help the faithful “be the instruments of grace and mercy who help to set captives free.”
Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken out against human trafficking. In May the Holy Father described the crime as “one of the most terrible scourges of our time” that disrespects and disregards human dignity and delivers “large profits to people without moral scruples.”
It is “never too late to take action” against human trafficking, the pope said in February 2024.
Also last year, the U.S. bishops urged Congress to pass a bill aiming to combat human trafficking that would, among other things, provide grants to aid organizations in areas with high rates of trafficking.
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