Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki . . .

Trafficking in Persons Report 2016

Trafficking in Persons Report 2016

Each year the US State Department is required under the Traffic Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) to issue a report on actions by governments to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute perpetrators. This year’s report focuses on vulnerabilities to trafficking and how governments are working to address those vulnerabilities: sexual and gender orientation, disability, religious affiliation, statelessness, migration due to conflict, etc. Though statistics are difficult to gather, on a global level the number of prosecutions of traffickers has increased. Still, the $150 billion dollar “industry” is thriving, according to Secretary of State John Kerry, and each of us must do his/her part to end human trafficking. 

In the July issue of Stop Trafficking, Sister Jean Schaefer provides a preview of the report.  But you are encouraged to look inside the report itself, and especially at the country reviews for Nicaragua (Tier 2, pp 286-288) and for the USA (Tier 1, pp 387-393). Sadly, Nicaragua has lost ground because the government has not been implementing legislation. Nicaragua’s neighbor, Costa Rica, is on a Tier 2 “Watch List,” meaning it could be downgraded to Tier 3 next year. As a neighbor of Nicaragua, its country profile may be of interest as well.

Another action we can take is to advocate for “Safe Harbor” protection for victims of trafficking in the states where we reside. 

Circle the City With Love

As the Republican National Convention convenes in Cleveland during the coming week, thousands of people plan to gather on Sunday afternoon, July 17^th, to “Circle the City With Love.” The goal is to set a positive and respectful tone that will counter some of the harsh rhetoric that has been so rampant during the primary season. The action was initiated by the Congregation of St. Joseph. One need not be in Cleveland to join in solidarity with the action.

CSA holds France in prayer . . .

CSA Nuns on the Bus

Two members of CSA will be on the bus as it pulls out of Madison, Wisconsin, on July 11 at 7:00 p.m. Sister Clare Lawlor and Sister Julie Ann Krahl will be traveling to the Republican Convention arriving on July 19^th. The focus of “Nuns on the Bus” is to “Mend the Gaps in Income and Wealth Inequality”  thru interviews with ordinary people and meetings with elected officials in a 10-city stop arriving in Cleveland, OH, on July 19th. Daily blog postings and photos will be at www.csasisters.org under Blogs and More CSA Nuns on the Bus.

Frederick Buechner's Quote of the Day - July 5, 2016

LIFE - the temptation is always to reduce it to size. A bowl of cherries. A rat race. Amino acids. Even to call it a mystery smacks of reductionism. It is the mystery.

As far as anybody seems to know, the vast majority of things inthe universe do not have whatever life is. Sticks, stones, stars, space - they simplyare. A few thingsareand are somehow alive to it. They have broken through into Something, or Something has broken through into them. Even a jellyfish, a butternut squash. They're in it with us. We're all in it together, or it in us. Read more.