Rev Cristian Pavel on the Human Trafficking at the European Parliament

The European Parliament, in collaboration with COMECE and Don Bosco International, has organized on December 2, 2019 a seminary with the subject: “Trafficking in Human Beings”.

The theme of the event was determined by the celebration of five years since the adoption of the Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders against Modern Slavery (December 2, 2014, Rome), which served as a public statement of the cults’ commitment (Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist) to collaborate in order to eradicate human trafficking and restore the dignity and freedom of its victims.

Five years later, the outspread phenomenon of human trafficking continues to inflict its destructive effects on its victims: men, women, and children. Alongside its traditional forms (primarily work and sexual exploitation), there are new or exacerbated ones, like the human organs trafficking, child harvesting etc. The seminary organized at the European Parliament gathered Church experts in order to share the pledge and the measures taken to prevent and fight against these unlawful acts, which are often hidden from the eyes of the European public society.

The Committee of the Representatives of the Orthodox Churches in European Union (CROCEU) was represented at this event by Rev Cristian Pavel, the director of the social-philanthropic department of the Archdiocese of Timisoara. He spoke about the challenges confronting Romania, the amplitude of human trafficking in Europe, and also about the actions done by the Romanian Orthodox Church against this calamitous scourge. The Permanent Office of the Romanian Orthodox Church at the European Institutions was represented by Rev George Valcu.