John McCain to Make Vatican Issue a Priority in His Administration

John McCain gave quite a impressive speech today called Defending Freedom and Dignity .The full text can be located here He hits on a issue that the Vatican shares his concerns on that he intends to make a major part of his Administration.

That is Human trafficking – or sex slavery. For some reason the vast horrible evil that this is is never a huge topic in the U.S. media or for that matter U.S. politics. That is not the case for the rest for the world. This goes especially for the Vatican and the Catholic that has made eradication of this darkness a major part of its work.

I am very glad that John McCain , like John Paul the II and Pope Benedict, sees the urgency of this problem. This is not the only focus of his speech and I urge you to read it all. However I wish to focus on this part. Senator John McCain's word will be in blue and Our Popes and Churches Words will be in Red. At the end I will provide links to the Catholic view on this subject

There is another form of human oppression that persists in the world today that demands our urgent attention and should sting the conscience of every good person. Inexcusably, it is a crime that, while prevalent elsewhere, exists within our own borders as well. Human trafficking – slavery, by another name – exists not just in places like Thailand, Kuwait and Venezuela. It is a serious problem here in the United States. It is a tragic reality that, two hundred years after Wilberforce won his battle to end the slave trade between Britain and the United States, and nearly 150 years after our nation ended the institution here, the practice still thrives in the dark corners of our society

Pope Benedict XVI - Message for the World Day of Migration (2006):
[T]rafficking in human beings - especially women ... flourishes where opportunities to improve their standard of living or even to survive are limited. It becomes easy for the trafficker to offer his own "services" to the victims, who often do not even vaguely suspect what awaits them. In some cases there are women and girls who are destined to be exploited almost like slaves in their work, and not infrequently in the sex industry, too." Though I cannot here closely examine the analysis of the consequences of this aspect of migration, I make my own the condemnation voiced by John Paul II against "the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture which encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality." (Letter of Pope John Paul II to Women, 1995, 5).

Most of the victims of human trafficking in the United States and in most other places in the world are the most vulnerable among us, destitute women and children who are sold into bondage as sex slaves. A 2004 State Department report concludes that of the estimated 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children transported across international borders each year, approximately 80 percent are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. The State Department estimates that between 15,000 and 18,000 human slaves are brought into the United States, many of whom are forced into the sex trade every year.

John Paul II: Letter To Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran (2002)
"The trade in human persons constitutes a shocking offence against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights. Already the Second Vatican Council had pointed to "slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children, and disgraceful working conditions where people are treated as instruments of gain rather than free and responsible persons" as "infamies" which "poison human society, debase their perpetrators" and constitute "a supreme dishonor to the Creator" (Gaudium et Spes, 27). Such situations are an affront to fundamental values which are shared by all cultures and peoples, values rooted in the very nature of the human person."
The International Conference "Twenty-First Century Slavery: The Human Rights Dimension To Trafficking In Human Beings" Vatican, 15 May 2002

While the past few years have seen increased efforts on the part of the State and Justice Departments and the FBI to combat the human slave trade, we must do more. As President, I'll increase cooperation and communication between all agencies of the federal government by establishing an Inter-Agency Task Force on Human Trafficking, whose purpose will be to focus exclusively on the prosecution of human traffickers and the rescue of their victims. The Task Force will strengthen cooperation between federal officials, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors to ensure that jurisdictional issues are not a barrier to success, and that we have a coordinated international response to this scourge. I will require the Task Force agencies to report directly to me on the status of the problem and the progress we are making to defeat this stain on the reputation and character of the United States. And we will take care to show compassion for victims of this despicable crime against humanity by making sure shelter, counseling and legal assistance is available and accessible to them.

John Paul II: Letter to Women (1995)
"[W]hen we look at one of the most sensitive aspects of the situation of women in the world, how can we not mention the long and degrading history, albeit often an "underground" history, of violence against women in the area of sexuality? At the threshold of the Third Millennium we cannot remain indifferent and resigned before this phenomenon. The time has come to condemn vigorously the types of sexual violence which frequently have women for their object and to pass laws which effectively defend them from such violence. Nor can we fail, in the name of the respect due to the human person, to condemn the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture which encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality and corrupts even very young girls into letting their bodies be used for profit." (5)

We must also do more to ensure governments that tolerate human trafficking crack down on this modern form of slavery. We can support efforts to change the economic incentives and do more to aid the victims. But we must view this evil form of twenty-first century slavery every bit as important as drug trafficking. All too often the same criminal networks that trade in fourteen-year-old girls also trade in narcotics--and even in materials that can be used by terrorists. Identifying and destroying criminal networks that evade national boundaries is also a matter of our national security.

"Trafficking in persons–in which men, women, and children from all over the globe are transported to other countries for the purposes of forced prostitution or labor–inherently rejects the dignity of the human person and exploits conditions of global poverty." (90) USCCB, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope (2003)

See also
A Cry for Freedom, December 2, 2007
(U.S. Ambassador to Holy See on Abolition of Slavery)

"Trafficking in Persons Report 2007"a State Department Report released on June 12, 2007

Human Trafficking Worse than African Slavery, says Vatican Official

ZENIT - Holy See Address to Human Trafficking Forum FEB. 14, 2008 - Here is the address delivered by Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, to the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking just two months ago

Vatican: Human Trafficking is a New Slavery - Catholic Online

List of Vatican Statement on Human Trafficking here