In the middle of the mass for the celebration of Saint Patrick in the Cathedral that bears his name, this sculpture was unveiled and blessed under the title “Set the oppressed free.”
Enrique Salvo, rector of the Cathedral of San Patricio.
The work shows more than 50 figures of women, men and even children victims of human trafficking worldwide.
The rector of the San Patricio Cathedral, Enrique Salvo said:
“They represent all the ways that human trafficking takes place, and here we have Saint Josephine Bakhita, who was a victim of this type of trafficking., and it is now the Patroness of this cause, who intercedes for us in heaven. And if you notice, she’s opening the doors to freedom, which is what we all want and need to happen in our world.”
St. Josephine Bakhita precisely frees the oppressed from the shadows, as was conceived by the sculptor of the work, the Canadian Timothy Schmalz.
“When I started working on this sculpture, I read a quote from Pope Francis, where he mentions that human trafficking will always exist if they are kept underground…”
“…To have these figures of people coming out of the ground here in the center of New York City, It is certainly a tool or a weapon to raise awareness of the existence of slaves in our society today”, says the sculptor Schmalz.
According to the United Nations, in 2018, there have been around 50,000 victims of human trafficking around the world.
The sculpture was placed next to the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, since in Latin America human trafficking is a tragedy that affects thousands of people.
“So much of this tragedy takes place in Latin America. So she, who is the patron saint of the Americas, we always ask her to pray for us and to protect all the victims with her mantle, to help us all to end this tragedy, ”adds Salvo.
According to the US Department of State, Latin America is a source, transit, and destination region for human trafficking.
Timothy Schmalz
Timothy Schmalz, describes the message of the sculpture:
“They have a girlfriend girl, you have a beggar, how many children begging on the streets of the world who are forced to ask for money, here a victim of organ trafficking, and a sex slave, that is the picture of human trafficking today in day.”
