coming up, fred de sam lazaro on the scourge of sex trafficking in vietnam. >> we were told if we didn't agree to be wives we would be sold into brothels. >> saul gonzales on trying to save historic church buildings when the congregations are too small to keep them open. >> this is a national crisis i would say. it really is a national crisis. >> major funding for "religion and ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lilly endowment, an indianapolis private family foundation, dedicated to its

founders' interest in religion, community development and education. additional funding also proceeded by mutual of america. designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. and by these funders. >> welcome. i'm bob abernethy. relief groups this week rushed to deliver aid to iraqis fleeing the sectarian violence that has gripped their country. an estimated 1.5 million people including some christians have been displaced so far by the islamist sunni insurgency. unicef gave the situation in iraq its most severe disaster grade -- level three. the same as the crisis in syria. this week, president obama said american combat troops are not fighting in iraq again, but that

the u.s. is sending up to 300 military advisers. >> there's no military solution inside of iraq, certainly not one that has led by the united states. but there is an urgent need for an inclusive political process, a more capable iraqi security force and counterterrorism efforts that deny groups like isil a safe haven. >> there's been a deadly string of attacks in kenya. more than 60 people in several coastal villages were killed by gunmen who went door to door asking if those inside were muslim. those who answered no were shot. the islamist militant group al shabab claimed responsibility, but the kenyan government said its political rivals are to blame. this week, the government said it killed five people suspected of having been involved in the attacks. here at home, the general assembly of the presbyterian church usa gathered in detroit to vote on a series of hotly

debated issues. delegates approved a resolution allowing pastors to perform same-sex marriages in states where it's legal. that change goes into effect immediately. delegates also voted to change the church's definition of marriage from a covenant between a man and a woman to a covenant between twpeople. that change requires regional approval. americans are giving less to churches and more to other kinds of causes. according to a new report from giving usa and the indiana university lilly family school of philanthropy. donations to religious groups fell 1.6% from 2012 to 2013 despite the fact that charitable giving is up overall 3%. among the groups receiving increased giving -- education, the arts and humanities and environmental and animal protection organizations. there were three executions

in the u.s. in the span of 24 hours this week. they were the first executions since april when an oklahoma inmate died of a heart attack after a botched lethal injection. this week's injections were carried out amid a growing debate about whether states should have to disclose where the drugs come from. the executions took place in florida, georgia and missouri. each of which has refused to say where it got the drugs. the vatican announced that pope francis is canceling all of his wednesday general audiences for the month of july. the cancellations led some to speculate that the pope's health is suffering because of his grueling schedule. however, the vatican rushed to downplay the rumors saying the pope is not sick. meanwhile, on friday, the pope came out against legalizing recreational drugs.

francis was visited this week by archbishop of canterbury, justin welby. it was their second meeting. they discussed their opposition to human trafficking and committed themselves to the fight against slavery in all forms. we have a special report now on the continuing tragedy of sex trafficking in vietnam. poor country girls tricked into going across the border into china where they're offered a choice between marriage and a brothel. but some of the girls escape and once they return there are people trying to help them get back into school and learn job skills. fred de sam lazaro reports from the vietnam/china border. >> the communist party flag still flies high in vietnam. but on the ground, consumers and

capitalism are thriving. at least in cities like hoe che ming and the capital, hanoi, which have grown rapidly. >> you see an enormous amount of mobility within the country and the urban migration happening to a large scale. >> however, forster said the strong economic growth is not enough to absorb millions of young entrants to the job market in this nation of 90 million. >> we have currently about 400,000 migrant workers being deployed abroad with 80,000 leaving every year. whenever you have migration, which is a positive driver and a positive force, then you have also the expectation of use coming with it. and that leads to trafficking. >> the heart of both the sex and labor trafficking problem and much of vietnam's poverty lies in the rural hinterland. still home to two-thirds of the population. this is vietnam's back door. the rugged mountainous, remote region along the northern border

with china. it's a porous border through which thousands of vietnamese women and children are trafficked each year. and that's one of the challenges in getting a handle on this complex problem. china is a giant magnet. its wages are higher and it's a transit point to other countries. china's also an involuntary destination for many young vietnamese women. the one-child policy, combined with a preference for male children has created a shortage of brides. diep vuong helps the victims who have managed to escape. >> we give the girls a choice -- do you want to marry somebody or do you want to work in the brothels? and one of the girls told us that she said, you know, they told us that if we work in brothels we'll be staying near the border.

and so some girls, they -- you know, i'd rather stay here because it's closer to vietnam. and i may be able to run back. >> vuong brought me to visit 23-year-old lan who was able to run back. >> i don't know where i was taken. we were in the car for a day. and when they wouldn't let me out of the car then i realized i had been tricked. >> hers is a classic story of how traffickers prey on desperately poor people. lan was working on a road building crew, back breaking work in hot, stifling weather. and it's to her work site that the recruiter came with a better offer. to harvest cinnamon for higher wages. she and two others took the bait. but lan was the only one who managed to return to her village. the other two have not been heard from since. lan said she was held in a home across the border in china before being taken to a place she thought was beijing.

where she encountered the lice. >> when we got to beijing, there were a lot of policemen around. so i ran to them and asked them to help me. they showed me a computer screen and i was able to convey to them i was from vietnam. >> but after clarifying a few questions, vuong determined she wasn't describing beijing, but rather an airport. she had never seen one before. >> i mean, you see airport pictures all the time. malaysian airlines. all that. and then you -- you know, you come across people who actually are at the airport and don't even know they have been at the airport. >> lan was fortunate in one critical way. her family welcomed her back. she has since married and has a 1-year-old son. often, victims must deal with stigma, shame and rejection from their families. >> my mother doesn't care to see me anymore.

in my village, there were some young women who had returned from china and i remember looking down on them. that's how i thought people were looking at me. >> we were asked to conceal the identities of the victims. >> there was a boy, he lived below us. he told me that his brother had a bad accident in china. and he asked me if i wanted to go with him to take care of his brother. my cousin told me he was dumped by his girlfriend and really depressed and asked if i would go and hang out with him. >> but their friends lie to them. each teenager was handed over to shadowy trafficking networks. >> we were told that if we didn't agree to be wives we would be sold into brothels. >> phonog agreed, but hue did

not. >> they were waiting to find a client for me. luckily there was a police raid and because we didn't have papers, the police took us away. >> each tells harrowing escape stories. how chance encounters with police officials and kind strangers helped get them home. in many cases, they become traffickers. >> the department of ministry said that they -- of all the people they arrested as traffickers, 60% of them had been trafficking victims themselves. >> vuongescribed one encounter with a 17-year-old who was severely beaten in captivity and released on condition she recruit more young women. which she agreed to do. >> and she said, well, i told them that, you know, they will work at this restaurant and so she didn't say tha you know, they would have to serve as

prostitutes. >> why would she feel compelled to feed this trade then if she was -- >> well, i think that -- i don't know. i mean, do you ask an abused woman who is abused by her husband why she goes back to her husband or why does she let her husband beat up on the children knowing what the harm she suffered is terrible enough? >> for young women unable to return to their families, vuong's group provides safe haven. they learn basic life skills like cooking and can complete their schooling. about 4,000 young women have received scholarships with money vuong raises through private donations. that enables them to go to school and if possible train for job skills. one partner is another nonprofit called no one teach one or koto. its restaurants and culinary schools in hoe che ming city claim disadvantaged youth. for her part, diep vuong who

fled after the war, plans to keep pushing to strength then country's anti-trafficking laws. >> i became both persons when i was 16 and i spent three days on the sea. i arrived in singapore, realizing that i'm stateless and all the vulnerabilities i saw during those times certainly. i don't want to see it on anyone. being a buddhist in some ways, not very devout, i feel that, you know, there are times to do things and clearly there was a time for me to study. there was a time for me to take the crossing of the sea, to understand how vulnerable people are. people could be. and so there's a time to do something, to just do it. >> in 2013, vietnam arrested

nearly 700 alleged traffickers and identified some 900 rescued victims. most experts agree there are deficiencies in both anti-trafficking ls and their enforcement. and that those numbers represent a small fraction. vuong says it's perhaps half of the true figures. this is fred de sam lazaro in hanoi for "religion and ethics newsweekly." this month in philadelphia, the roman catholic archdiocese announced that it's closing 16 more parish churches and merging them with others. part of a four-year downsizing campaign. meanwhile, all over the country, struggles are underway to save historic church buildings as congregations and their contributions dwindle. there's a national nonprofit

organization also based in philadelphia called partners for sacred places that's helping find new uses for old and beloved church buildings. saul gonzales repor. >> philadelphia is a city rich in landmarks. from independence hall, to the ben franklin parkway to the works of playful public art. the city of brotherly love is also home to an extraordinary variety of imposing and historic houses of worship, scattered across the neighborhoods. but many of these grand buildings it is long closed and derelict with broken windows, locked doors and for sale signs on them. other churches both closed and open are in simply terrible condition. take the 19th street baptist church in south philadelphia. built in 1874, it was partly designed by frank furness, one of the city's most celebrated

architects. wilbur winborne is 19th street's pastor. >> it's like a version of this old house. when you look at a house in a state of deterioration and we need people and resources to come and try to -- try to help and get this house of worship back on its feet again. >> this old house times 100. >> times 100. this old house times 100. >> look inside the church and you can why the congregation can't hold services and why the church needs upwards of $3 million in renovation work done. how did your church get in the shape that it's in? >> well, years of neglect. not having the resources that we needed to have, so between neglect, lack of resources and help and this is what we have.

>> although this church's condition is extreme, religious leaders and architectural preservationists say too many other churches in america and other american cities are in similar shape. >> i think it's fair to say this is a national crisis, i would say. it really is a national crisis. >> bob jaeger is president of the partners for sacred places. it's a philadelphia-based national nonprofit, dedicated to protecting america's historic and endangered houses of worship. >> your uniqueness there -- >> congregations have shrunk so much and budgets have shrunk so much it's hard for congregations to keep up with the buildings, to take good care of them or to use them well. and unless they do something creative and bold, many of them will close or merge in the next 10 or 20 years. >> in philadelphia alone, with an estimated 800 houses of worship, jaeger estimates between 1 to 200 churches are at

risk of closing. that's already happened to north philadelphia's ascension of our lord roman catholic church. it shut its doors permanently in 2012 after years of financial troubles. but even as its fortunes declined, the church remained a crossroads of community life in the largely poor african-american and latino neighborhood says resident jeff johnson. >> i used to go to the church when i was young. it's a wasted space, they should open it back up and do something with it. >> bob jaeger says even people who never step inside a house of worship should recognize the loss to a neighborhood's sense of community when a church, synagogue or temple closes. >> you may love the architecture. you may love the fact that it houses a concert or recital every month. you may love the fact that kid goes to day care. you may love the fact that the homeless are sheltered there in the wintertime. so there are ways -- you may not be a member, but you can say, you know, this is a place that matters. >> to save churches on the

brink, staffers of partners for sacred partners, help negotiate deals on behalf ofhe houses of worship so they can earn extra income by inviting other tenants to share their spaces. renting them out to social service organizations and art groups for instance that's what the partners for sacred places helped to do for philadelphia's massive shiloh baptist church. like so many other houses of worship in this city, it's crumbling and delap dated. and the church's congregation is now so small, they rarely use the main worship space because of the cost of heating it. but on the church's second floor, there are sights and sounds of new life. to earn extra income, the church has rented out this massive space to junk, an avant-garde dance troupe that performs in

the country. >> junk brings it wherever we go. >> the artistic director brian saunders fell in love with the space, knowing it would be perfect for his high-flying performers. but he also had doubts whether a risk taking theater group could share a sacred space with a congregation. >> junk is known for pushing boundaries. so the idea of our -- you know, how we'd be able to find common ground inside a church sounded challenging. but when we really sat down at theable, we shared more in common than we knew. >> the church and performers realized they could help each other. junk needed offices and a big, affordable rehearsal space right in the city. the church needed the sense of life and extra money junk's presence and rent would bring in. reverend edward sparkman is shiloh's pastor. >> it is bringing in approximately $30,000 of extra income a year.

a year. which we did not have before we started this. >> and this $30,000 matters? >> oh, yes. you can't maintain this building without the additional income. we realize that now. >> bob jaeger thinks that's an example of what other older urban churches with shrinking congregations could and should be doing. >> their buildings can stay alive. they can be cared for and they can be shared in new ways. they can kind of live out their public purpose in new ways that's good for everybody. >> but in cities with revived residential and commercial real estate markets there are people who see opportunities, profits and curb appeal in all of the old and abandoned churches. the key though as they say in real estate is location, locati location, location and turning the houses of worship into places that have nothing to do with faith. that's what's happening at what

was s matthew's baptist church in south philadelphia. closed in 2011, it's now being turned into over 30 luxury apartment units for young professionals. so when you saw this building, what is it that attracted you to it immediately? >> well, immediately it's the exterior. the stone, the detail. that iconic clock tower that is so fantastic. you see it from everywhere. then its sheer size. this is not a little chapel. this is a giant building. >> the man behind this church makeover is philadelphia-based real estate developer alan barzilay, who is spending $10 million on the project. >> this is the very top of the worship space. >> absolutely. this is the second story of the bilevel apartments and you can see the amazing arch details of the ceiling that goes throughout. >> barzilay is not alone in

doing this kind of work. churches have been turned into swank single family homes, stores and commercial spaces. even a brewery and pub. in philadelphia, barzilay thinks the property possibilities are endless because of the stock of old and abandoned houses of worship in the city. >> they have to be of scale. they have to have good locations. you have to have a community that's working with you. because they're very challenging, but it's a niche that we are specializing and this is the first of many churches that we are currently examining to redevelop. >> but sitting with me in a grand downtown philadelphia church, bob jaeger has ambivalent feelings about some church conversions. >> condominiums tend to cut up the space. you know, you put up the walls and the glory of the space like this would be lost. but that is certainly better than demolition. >> back at 19th street baptist church, a small crew of volunteers does what it can to

shore up the building. using what funds can congregation can raise. pastor winborne who came to this church after much of the damage had been done says he'd love to share the church with other organizations to bring in needed income. he also says he'll do everything in his power to make sure this historic church remains a church. >> if a developer came to you and said, $10 million or $7 million or $6 million for your church, but i want to turn it into something else entirely different, i would assume that would be tempting. >> not quite. not quite. it's a history. we want to leave a legacy. can't put a price on that. can't put a price. >> for "religion and ethics newsweekly," i'm saul gonzales in philadelphia. on our calendar for muslims the holy month of ramadan begins

next weekend. the annual period of prayer and good deeds and fasting from dawn to sunset every day. that's our program for now. our bob abouter naanernethy. follow us on twitter and facebook and visit our website where there's always much more and where you can also listen to or watch each of our programs. join us at pbs.org. as we leave you, scenes of pope francis greeting some of his many fans.

♪ major funding for "religion and ethics newsweekly" is provided by the lilly endowment, an indianapolis based foundation dedicated to the founders' interest in religion, community development and education. additional funding also provided by mutual of america. designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. and by these funders. >> beer

>> charlie: welcome to the program. i'm charlie rose. the program is "charlie rose - the week." just ahead, america's options in iraq. tea party upsets business in congress and actor kenneth branagh returns to shakespeare. >> what does he have shake pierce admires in his character in his soldier poets, it's a simple thing. he has guts! >> charlie: we have those stories and more on what happened and what might happen.