{"id":441381,"date":"2023-09-04T18:42:37","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T15:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=441381"},"modified":"2023-09-04T19:18:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T16:18:54","slug":"metropolitan-ioan-asks-orthodox-youth-to-form-a-human-chain-around-those-who-risk-being-trafficked-or-using-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/metropolitan-ioan-asks-orthodox-youth-to-form-a-human-chain-around-those-who-risk-being-trafficked-or-using-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Metropolitan Ioan asks Orthodox youth to form a human chain around those who risk being trafficked or using drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Dear young people, please form a human chain around the ones you see at risk of being trafficked or at risk of drug use. Please, surround them like birds protect their young when kidnappers come to their nest!” said Metropolitan Ioan of Banat on Saturday, at the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) 2023 Conferences, which he moderated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I ask you to do this for your brothers and sisters, out of Christian love, because Christ would have us do so. If He were at this microphone today, I am sure Christ would tell you: ‘Save and defend your peers!'”<\/p>\n

The last part of the ITO 2023 Conferences was dedicated to the fight against risk behaviours among young people, which also grow into real social problems due to the complexity of the phenomena they represent: human trafficking and drug use.<\/p>\n

Man – the crown of creation<\/h3>\n
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Father Vasile Mihoc gave a brief introduction to Christian anthropology on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at Timi\u0219oara, during the ITO 2023 Conferences. Photo: Basilica.ro \/ Mircea Florescu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The introduction was made by Father Professor Vasile Mihoc<\/strong>, who spoke briefly about Orthodox Christian anthropology, i.e. the Church’s vision of man.<\/p>\n

“The Holy Fathers summed it up thus: God became man, that he might deify man. It is an anthropological revolution. You cannot understand man without taking this revolution into account. If man, Adam, was made with a living soul, the last Adam, Christ, became life-giving spirit,” said the priest.<\/p>\n

“Without this life-giving spirit, we will never properly answer the question, ‘What is man?'”<\/p>\n

Human trafficking – a contemporary scourge<\/h3>\n

Next, Chief Commissioner Lauren\u021biu Dinc\u0103 <\/strong>from the National Agency Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ANITP), Timi\u0219oara Regional Centre, made the presentation entitled “Trafficking in human beings: a changing phenomenon in a changing society”.<\/p>\n

“Traffickers have also changed their recruitment and exploitation methods in line with legislative changes, trying to make it as difficult as possible to prosecute and convict them. Their tactics have evolved over time, and today this evolution is largely supported by technology,” he explained.<\/p>\n

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Chief Commissioner Lauren\u021biu Dinc\u0103, ANITP Timi\u0219oara, spoke about human trafficking on Saturday, September 2, 2023, during the ITO 2023 Conferences. Photo: Basilica.ro \/ Mircea Florescu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Their targets are most often children and young women, and the techniques used are creative and ruthless. They are designed to trick, coerce and gain the trust of a potential victim. The main means used by traffickers to lure their victims is psychological manipulation, based on knowledge of their weaknesses.”<\/p>\n

“Victims under the manipulation of exploiters will not try to escape, will not admit what has happened to them and will not want to testify,” added the Chief Commissioner.<\/p>\n

He went on to talk about his agency’s latest awareness campaign. It focuses on empowering potential consumers of paid sex services – by using these services, they are enabling trafficking, because most women in this social category are trafficked.<\/p>\n

The young participants then watched an information film about the phenomenon of human trafficking, narrated by popular Romanian vlogger Zaiafet.<\/p>\n