Ambassador and Mrs. Rooney welcome Sister Eugenia Bonetti to their residence, Villa Richardson.

4 October 2007

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons, October 4, 2007

On October 4th, 2007, Ambassador Rooney invited to his residence representatives from the Vatican, the Holy See Diplomatic Corps, and local NGOs to honor Sister Eugenia Bonetti; a Consolata Missionary sister and director of the counter-trafficking office of the Italian Union of Major Superiors (USMI), the umbrella organization for thousands of nuns throughout Italy. Sr. Eugenia has built a network of nuns who serve on the frontlines of the life-and-death battle against this modern-day slavery - offering material security, shelter, and pastoral care to thousands of its victims. These sisters – from 70 congregations who operate 110 shelters throughout Italy –provide for the protection, rehabilitation and social reintegration of the young women who find themselves trafficked and trapped in a world with little hope.

The reception was to raise interest for a five-day anti-trafficking Training Seminar sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP), and organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See and USMI. The Seminar brought together in Rome more than 30 nuns from 25 different congregations already active in the field of human trafficking in 26 countries with the aim of:

1) launching an international, inter-congregational religious anti-trafficking network – the first of its kind;

2) significantly developing and strengthening networking mechanisms and communications skills among nuns addressing trafficking in persons (TIP) in countries of origin, transit and destination;

3) facilitating occasions for participants to share their best practices and country-specific TIP assessments through delivery of individual Country Reports;

4) developing internet procedures and structures to facilitate dissemination of Best Practices products;

5) strengthening participants’ national and international capacities to tackle TIP through multi-disciplinary, political and strategic approaches.

Sr. Eugenia Bonetti is doing much to bring light to the issue of human trafficking and the critical role religious women –and men—can play in bringing about an end to it. In conferences, reports, words and deeds from America to Canada, Eastern Europe, Africa and other countries around the globe, Sr. Eugenia serves as a symbol of hope and human dignity to so many young women and girls who have had theirs robbed from them.

On October 4, Sister Eugenia emphasized the critical collaboration between religious orders and governments needed to restore dignity to the most vulnerable of our society. “This evening, Your Excellency Mr. Rooney, I thank you once again on behalf of all the women religious who will attend this Training Seminar in a few days time. Your support, and that of the representatives of the Holy See Diplomatic Corps present here tonight, is a strong symbol that confirms the concern and value your embassy gives to the human dignity of those individuals who have been sold, exploited and marginalized in today’s often cold and harsh world.”