28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 15th October 2017

Dear Parishioners,

We have been asked by the Bishop to support this survey.

In 2016, Pope Francis called Modern Slavery a ‘true crime against humanity’ and urged the Catholic Church to assist in the fight to eliminate it.  The eradication of Modern Slavery was included in the United Nations Sustainable Development goals in 2015.  As a Church we are in a privileged position as many of those exploited look to the church and come to the Church for help. In this survey we are asking you to help us identify these vulnerable communities – who they are, where they are, what they need, and what you need to support them effectively.

The Modern Slavery Act (2015) defined the crime of modern slavery as occurring when any person holds another person in slavery or servitude, or when a person requires another person to perform forced or compulsory labour.  In this country there are many faces of modern slavery: people who find themselves in situations of domestic servitude; women and girls from abroad and from the UK trafficked for sexual exploitation; men and women abused by drug cartels and organized crime groups who end up in car washes, nail bars and as cleaners; and finally the thousands of people recruited from Eastern European countries who are exploited in various industrial and agricultural sectors – farming, fishing, poultry and factories.  Human trafficking, more specifically, occurs when one person arranges or organises the movement of another person (within the same country or across national borders) so they can exploit or enslave that person.

Parishes and chaplaincies across the UK are asked to assist with this short survey about modern slavery. It will help the Church, via the Santa Marta Group, in gathering important data in the fight against Modern Slavery.  Please go to the link below and input the password: Bakhita  https://stmarys.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/informational-survey-2017-modern-slavery

And with another question: Should you give money to street beggars? Watch the following 6 minute video made by Fr Jim McCartney for the answer.
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/video/169368ref=rss                                                                     

Fr John

Posted in Clitheroe, Dunsop Bridge, Sabden, Weekly View.