Vatican City, Oct 3, 2017 / 03:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In the keynote speech at a conference on protecting children in the digital world, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said child safety is one of the most urgent issues of modern times, and stressed that children on the global “peripheries” shouldn’t be forgotten.
In his Oct. 3 speech, Parolin noted that technological and cultural change “is particularly fast in many countries in which social and economic progress are still very limited and unbalanced.”
Thousands of children are now growing up in the digital world in vastly underdeveloped nations, he said, which means their parents and educators “will no longer be culturally equipped to accompany them and help them grow in this world, while their governments often don’t know where to begin in protecting them.”
“We are also responsible for these children, and the businesses that promote and push the development of the digital world are also responsible for them,” he said.
Given the international and interdisciplinary approach of the conference, Parolin stressed that the participants themselves “must take responsibility for those peripheries of the world of which Pope Francis continually speaks.”
The peripheries, he said, are in geographical areas of great economic poverty, but which “are also found within rich societies, where there is considerable human and spiritual poverty, loneliness and a loss of the meaning of life.”
“It is no coincidence that it is precisely minors from these peripheries that are the preferred object of global networks of exploitation and organized violence online.”
He pointed specifically to several crimes against children: trafficking, forced conscription of child soldiers, slave labor, prostitution, drugs, all of which are compounded by inadequate education, hunger and poverty.
In each of these cases, “the horrible reality of sexual abuse is practically always present, as a common aspect and consequence of a multifaceted and widespread violence,” he said, noting that sexual abuse entirely disregards “respect not only for the body, but even more so for the soul, for the profound vulnerability and dignity of every child,” regardless of nationality.
Quoting Pope Francis, Parolin said “we need the courage” to guard children from “the new Herods of our time, who devour the innocence of our children” through various forms of slavery and exploitation.
Parolin spoke on the opening night of a four-day conference on protecting children in a digitally connected and global society. Titled “Child Dignity in the Digital World,” the conference is being held in Rome Oct. 3-6 and is organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection (CCP).
Participants in the congress include social scientists, civic leaders, and religious representatives from around the world. Topics include prevention of abuse, pornography, the responsibility of internet providers and the media, and ethical governance.
Notable presenters representing the global “peripheries” will be Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi in Kenya, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila in the Philippines, who will address the issue of protecting minors from the perspectives of Africa and Asia respectively.
Parolin’s focus on social peripheries echo remarks from Fr. Hans Zollner SJ, president of the CCP and a member of Pope Francis’ commission for protecting minors.
In a briefing with journalists Oct. 2, the day before the conference began, Zollner said the issues of child abuse and protection, widely spoken about in Western nations, are also of major concern for developing nations.
He said the problem “is everywhere and the risks are everywhere,” he said. “It is not a Western problem, although in many parts of the world, 75% of countries in this world, issues of child sexual abuse have not reached the level of discussion in Anglo and Western- European countries.”
On the opening night of the conference, the panel of speakers was preceded by a powerful video in which minors who have been abused either online or in person shared their stories, detailing instances of online bullying, body-shaming, sexual exploitation and pornography addiction.
The stories depicted included a 17-year-old girl who committed suicide after explicit videos of her, taken by a boyfriend, were posted online. Other stories were that of a young Filipino boy who fell victim to a sex-trafficking ring, and that of a 10-year-old boy who, despite feeling shame, became addicted to pornography.
In his opening remarks, Zollner said that “stories such as these are why were are gathered here.”
“We have listened to stories of victims, and now we are here to talk about hope,” he said, explaining that he has “conflicting emotions” about the conference. While he has a “somber feeling” due to the topic of discussion, the priest said he also has a “hopeful feeling” when he looks at the faces present in the audience and the various areas they represent.
Referring to the stories shared in the video, Zollner asked “how can we stop these terror attacks on the heart of the child?”
One thing is certain in the process, he said, which is that “there is not one single medicine that will fix it all.” Rather, “it is a combination of threads that weave this safety net,” and the threads are people.
According to statistics given by the panel of speakers, in Europe alone there are currently some 30,000 websites that portray children being sexually abused.
Several experts reported that in 2013 alone, 18 million children were sexually abused, amounting to roughly 30 percent of Europe’s children. Numbers given by Interpol for 2016 show that at least 5 children fall victim to sexual abuse online per day.
In his speech, Parolin also emphasized the need to form networks, reiterating concern that the sexual abuse of minors is “an immensely vast and widespread phenomenon.”
Over the past few decades, the reality of child sexual abuse within the Church has become more apparent, as “very serious facts have emerged,” he said. Parolin explained that as facts emerged, the Church became aware of the damage done to victims, and the need to provide “a new culture of child protection” which “effectively guarantees their growth in safe and secure environments.”
“This is a commitment that requires deep human attention, competence and consistency,” he said, adding that the efforts made must continue to “expand and deepen” with clarity and firm commitment.
Attention is necessary, he said, “so that the dignity and rights of minors are protected and defended with much more attention and effectiveness that has been done in the past.”
He noted that “the scourge of offenses against the dignity of minors” now “spreads and aligns itself within the new parameters of the digital world.”
“This plague meanders and infiltrates along a labyrinth of paths and through deep, hidden layers of reality,” he said, stressing that the digital world is not “a separate part of the world,” but an integral part “of a unique reality of the world.”
With old challenges manifesting themselves in new ways, the culture of protecting minors “must be sufficiently able to address today’s problems.”
New energies must be channeled toward a shared commitment “to overcome the sense of disorientation and powerlessness when faced with such a markedly difficult challenge, and to help us to intervene creatively,” he said.
Furthermore, “we must work to regain control of the development of the digital world, so that it may be at the service of the dignity of minors, and thus of the whole human race of tomorrow,” he said. “For the minors of today are the entirety of tomorrow’s human race.”
While research and understanding problems are important, Parolin called for a “far-seeing, courageous endeavor” on the part of all participants, and appealed for “the cooperation of every person in a position of responsibility” in all countries and sectors of society.
Parolin said that in this regard, special attention ought to be paid to the “moral and religious” aspects of the life and development of the human person.
“The minors of whom we speak and whose dignity we wish to defend and promote are human
persons, and the value of each of them is unique and unrepeatable,” he said, adding that each of them “must be taken seriously and protected in this ever more digitalized world, so that they may be able to fulfill the purpose of their life, their destiny, their coming into the world.”
Scripture itself says we are created in the “image and likeness” of God, he said, and in the New Testament it tells of how the Son of God came to the world as “a vulnerable child, and in needy circumstances, assuming both the fragility and the hope for a future that are intrinsic to an infant.”
“To disparage infancy and to abuse children is for the Christian, therefore, not only a crime, but also – as Pope Francis has stated – sacrilege, a profanation of that which is sacred, of the presence of God in every human being.”
While the driving forces behind global technical and economic development might seem “unstoppable” and are likely driven by both economic and political interests, Parolin stressed that “we must not allow ourselves to be dominated by” these interests.
“The power of sexual desire that dwells in the depth of the human mind and heart is great and wonderful when it advances the path of humanity,” he said, but can also be “corrupted and perverted,” becoming “a source of suffering and unspeakable abuse.”
Sexual desire must be “elevated and directed,” he said, adding that “the sense of moral responsibility in the sight of humanity and in the sight of God, the reflection on the correct use of freedom in the building and orientation of a new world and in learning how to live in it, are thus absolutely necessary and fundamental for our common future.”
He closed his speech calling the defense of children in the digital world “one of today’s most important and urgent issues” for humanity.”
Parolin voiced his hope that with the “living sense of the beauty and the mystery of human persons, of the greatness of their vocation to life, and thus of the duty to protect them in their dignity and their growth” in mind, this perspective would “inspire your work and bear concrete and effective fruit.”
[…]
Pope Francis: Tear down these walls!
“Anyone convicted of illegal entry will be banned from entering Vatican territory for a period of up to 15 years. If this sanction is breached, the offender may be punished with a prison sentence of one to five years.”
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That’s pretty hardcore.
Unbelievable hypocrisy?
Anything but, given what we have experienced both of ‘unbelievable’ and of ‘hypocrisy’ over the current pontificate.
More like: ‘par for the course’ from this pope.
According to Francis, countries overrun by illegal immigrants are not to do as Francis’ Vatican aims to do through its Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State Decree on persons illegally entering Vatican territory?
Doublespeak again, louder please, so all can hear it unambiguously!
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/259061/catholic-immigration-experts-respond-to-pope-francis-comment-that-repelling-migrants-is-a-grave-sin
Migrants must be granted free access to every neighborhood of Europe, North American and Australia, but there are a few areas that are strictly off-limits: Martha’s Vineyard, Davos, and now, we find out, the Vatican. Francis and company truly love the downtrodden, but from a safe distance. The rest of us get to enjoy a much more intimate experience.
I don’t know about Martha’s Vineyard but a family member worked for a couple from Nantucket Island who said there were quite a few illegal immigrants there. Somebody has to do the cleaning and yardwork, etc. and it’s not practical for workers to ferry back and forth constantly, so they stay on the island.
Large numbers of migrants without employment dumped on Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard would be a different situation.
The Vatican needs to have tight security for many reasons. I honestly understand this, and support it.
But incoming President Trump, and 77.3 million Americans are wrong for wanting stricter security measures and illegal immigration/deportation crackdowns here in our own country?
Sounds perfectly logical to me.
“I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me.”
The goats are in trouble now …
Strangers are welcomed, but trespassers aren’t, even if said trespassers do not happen to be strangers.
So according to Pope Francis it is a disgrace for the US to apprehend, deport and ban illegal immigrants from the USA. But it is OK for the Vatican to do the same? Do as I say not as I do? And we wonder why the Catholic Church is shrinking?
Catholic Immigration: corrected – There would be no basis for ill feeling toward foreign nationals, if every country accepted the responsibility to pay for their own citizens’ politically defined entitlements and socialization costs. (health, welfare, education and criminal/restitution/incarceration.)
It is the responsibility of every nation to provide for the politically defined health, education, welfare and criminal costs incurred by their citizens while their citizens are in a foreign country. Because of the diversity of means by which the needs of citizens are provided for through out the world, often ranging from high taxation for many benefits to no taxation for no benefits, and because a country’s citizen’s first and primary recourse for the proper and customary administration of defined rights, responsibilities and entitlements is to his own country’s policies and resources, whenever a citizen is “abroad” the host nation shall have the ability to charge a visiting citizen’s home country for expenses which the host nation has incurred to its own citizens due to the needs of the visiting citizen. These costs may also be reimbursed by “sponsoring” groups, insurance companies, or individuals. Enforcement of these payments shall be enacted through the issuance or denial of visas. A host country can deny entry to citizens from a delinquent country. And a country that cannot afford the social costs of another country can place restrictions on the issuance of visas to its citizens for that other country. This law/policy should also state that a child born to a foreign national while in the United States is granted dual citizenship, but that the responsibility for the “entitlement” costs of the child remain with the parents and the home country of the parents until the child turns 18 or becomes a citizen of the host nation alone, which ever comes later. Nothing in this policy should ever prevent charitable organizations from providing care or services to whom ever they choose.
It is a blessing and responsibility of the individual, family and church to take care of the poor, indigent and marginalized, not the government. All blessings come from God. When the individual, family and church are the “free will” source of charity then all are blessed; the giver, the receiver and the common good of the community.iWhen the government is the source of blessings for those in need, then the government becomes the source of blessings; supplanting God, changing a blessing into a “right” (without the corresponding responsibility) of “entitlement” there-in making losers out of all involved by stealing the free will charity of the giver (taxation replaces charity), conditioning the receiver to demand his “right to be taken care of” without owing anyone–even God– a prayer of gratitude, and conditioning the community towards atheistic socialism. The move (back–before 1930 there were no government entitlements! With few exceptions, the church –through her people –was the source of all charity.) to this new “charity of the heart and soul” paradigm must be gradual, but sure, to ensure that the transition allows for the prudent care of those in need. This can best be done by allowing a 100% tax deduction for gifts to charitable organizations, and by removing the ceiling on how much can be donated–as a percentage of income– while cutting back on the duration and degree of entitlements.
This is the opposite of what current representatives are proposing. There have been suggestions that all charitable donations deductions be deleted from the tax code… do you see what a Machiavellian power grab this is, do you see what an atheistic socialist and communistic power maneuver this is? And as a Catholic, who loves the Church deeply, I must tell you many Catholic religious have embraced the false notion that the government — not the church—should be required to take care of the needy. (Caritas in Veritate –Charity in Truth articulates an accurate implementation of these principles)
Well can’t go in the Vatican but the pope is applaud to the US picking up illegal aliens maybe our pope should stay out of politics. I’ve been a catholic for 80 years but this pope so far is far from the best.
And the Pope has the NERVE to try and Tellthe US to NOT enforce its own Immigration Laws????
Pope Francis needs to sit down and sgut up quite frankly.
First, I am a born, baptized, confirmed, and practicing Roman Catholic in the USA. And today, at Mass, we were “instructed” to contact our Congressmen to stand against “mass deportation”. Pope Francis, “people in glass houses (a.k.a. you)” shouldn’t throw stones.
The visiting priest also likened NOT speaking up about “mass deportation” was equivalent to Germans in 1939 not speaking up about concentration camps being built. Am I the only one who sees these 2 events have NOTHING in common?
The U.S. policy of mass deportation is aimed at CRIMINALS who are illegally in MY country. Also, these deportees are being returned ALIVE to their native countries, they are are NOT being exterminated or wrongly treated in any way.
Pope Frances needs to remember that the Vatican started building THEIR walls in the 9th century and has maintained them ever since. Again, “glass houses”! Vatican immigration policies are more stringent than the Untied States policies.
Who cries for the murdered, beaten, extorted, sexually abused, those who are sold into human trafficking, and their families? I do and every other American who had to witness these horrendous acts CAUSED by the 4 years of Biden/Harris open border policies.
Pope Francis, stay in your lane and out of all countries political policies.
It appears to me that Pope Francis was a NIMBY.
Meanwhile, our pope wants the U.S. to have an open door for entry by illegal immigrants. Rules for thee but not for me.