Talitha Kum to celebrate 15-year anniversary at upcoming General Assembly

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Some 200 Talitha Kum delegates from around 90 countries, representing women and men religious, laity, young people, and human trafficking survivors, will be marking the organization's fifteenth anniversary at its upcoming, second General Assembly.

The Assembly, with the theme “Journeying Together to End Human Trafficking: Compassion in Action for Transformation,” will take place, 18-24 May 2024, at the Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano and will adopt a synodal, bottom-up approach.

During the encounter, Talitha Kum Sisters and partner collaborators will dialogue, listen, discern, and share, on how to continue engaging, and strategically tackle the modern-day evil that envelops the globe. 

The Assembly will offer testimonies of survivors, young people, and Sisters from the grassroots. They will share their experiences in working to end human trafficking through partnerships and collaboration, especially among religious communities, civil society leaders, diplomats, and international agencies.

Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on 23 May formally concludes the Assembly and will be followed by the Sisters' 2024 Anti-Trafficking Awards ceremony at the Augustinianum Auditorium.

At that time, three Catholic Sisters will be recognized for having demonstrated exceptional courage, creativity, collaboration, and achievement in protecting their communities from human trafficking.

Talitha Kum International Coordinator, Sr Abby Avelino, MM, expressed her gratitude for all who make it possible for Talitha Kum members to move forward in their "prophetic mission initiative of journeying together to fight against human trafficking," and "most of all, to God's love that leads us towards compassion, in action, for transformation.” 

All panel sessions from Sacrofano will be live-streamed on the Talitha Kum website.