CDP Corporate Stand Against Human Trafficking

July 24, 2017

CORPORATE STAND AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING

We, the Congregation of Divine Providence of San Antonio, Texas join Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, and people of faith and good will across the city, state, and nation who have felt deeply the loss of life in the recent incident of human smuggling and trafficking in San Antonio. Ten people senselessly lost their lives and about 30 other adults and children were hospitalized.

This incident merely highlights a larger issue that is all too prevalent in our area. The issue of human smuggling and trafficking preys on desperate individuals who are looking for safety and a better life for their families. A frequent consequence is that instead of finding a better life, they are exposed to more dangers, including in this tragic case, the actual loss of life.

Human trafficking has appropriately been called modern slavery, and it is time that its victims experience an end to their cries of suffering. God hears their cries, and we join with concerned people everywhere in praying for an end to this practice of enslavement.

We join with Archbishop Garcia-Siller of San Antonio in calling for churches, law enforcement, state and national elected officials, civic organizations, and charitable groups to prioritize the immigration issue and truly work together in new ways which have eluded us in the past for common sense solutions.

We, the Sisters of the Congregation of Divine Providence, emphasize our 2017 Chapter Statement that calls us to “commit ourselves to hear the cry of pain and anguish of the poor, immigrants, women, and Earth” and “to act with courage and collaborate with others to heal what is broken.” Action on behalf of immigrants, especially those who are victims of human trafficking, is needed not just today because of a single incident, but on an ongoing basis because of the chronic nature of this problem. We are committed to work with others on solving this problem.

Join is Friday, July 28, 2017 11:00 AM in Our Lady of the Lake Convent Center Annunciation Chapel for daily Mass as we pray together for the sanctity of life and an end to human trafficking.

Our founder, Blessed John Martin Moye, was a priest and a prophet for the Church and the world of his time, whose source of insight, courage, and power was always the same: a strong confidence in the providence of God. This confidence in a provident God is a grace for the world entrusted to Father Moye and to the Sisters of Divine Providence. It stands as the particular way God is present to the world through us.