Vatican City, Oct 6, 2017 / 04:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Friday, Pope Francis told a group of religious and secular experts from around the world that protecting minors against increasing online threats is a serious new concern, and one in which the Church can be a leading voice given the experience gleaned from past mistakes.
“As all of us know, in recent years the Church has come to acknowledge her own failures in providing for the protection of children,” the Pope said Oct. 6. “Extremely grave facts have come to light, for which we have to accept our responsibility before God, before the victims and before public opinion.”
Because of this, “as a result of these painful experiences and the skills gained in the process of conversion and purification, the Church today feels especially bound to work strenuously and with foresight for the protection of minors and their dignity, not only within her own ranks, but in society as a whole and throughout the world.”
The Church can’t even attempt to “do this alone – for that is clearly not enough,” he said, but she stands ready by “offering her own effective and ready cooperation to all those individuals and groups in society that are committed to the same end.”
In this sense, he said, the Church adheres fully to the goal of putting an end to “the abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children” that was set by the United Nations in the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda.
Pope Francis spoke to participants in the global “Child Dignity in the Digital World” conference being held in Rome Oct. 3-6, who had an audience with him the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.
Organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection in collaboration with the UK-based global alliance WePROTECT and the organization “Telefono Azzurro,” the first Italian helpline for children at risk, the conference brings together people from all sectors of society, including social scientists, civic leaders, and religious representatives.
Key points of discussion included updates on the situation, the prevention of abuse, pornography, the responsibility of internet providers and the media, and ethical governance.
In their audience with the Pope, participates presented him with a common declaration outlining several action-points for each area and field to develop moving forward.
In his speech, Pope Francis thanked attendees for gathering to address such “a grave new problem” which, until this week’s conference, had not yet been studied in-depth by experts from various fields.
“The acknowledgment and defense of the dignity of the human person is the origin and basis of every right social and political order,” he said, noting that children “are among those most in need of care and protection.”
This is why the Holy See received the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of the Child in 1959, and participated in the 1990 U.N. convention on the same subject, he said, adding that “the dignity and rights of children must be protected by legal systems as priceless goods for the entire human family.”
While we are living in a world “we could hardly have imagined” only a few years ago, Francis said this world is the fruit of “extraordinary achievements of science and technology” that are in many ways changing “our very way of thinking and of being.”
However, while admirable these rapid advancements also bring a certain concern and apprehension with them, he said, explaining that questions naturally arise as to whether “we are capable of guiding the processes we ourselves have set in motion, whether they might be escaping our grasp, and whether we are doing enough to keep them in check.”
As representatives of various fields in digital communications and organizations, conference participants “with great foresight” have put a spotlight on “what is probably the most crucial challenge for the future of the human family: the protection of young people’s dignity.”
Citing various statistics, the Pope noted that currently more than a quarter of the over 3 billion internet users are minors, meaning there are more than 800 million young people navigating the internet throughout the world. In India alone, he said, more than 500 million people will have access to the internet in the coming years, and that half of them will be minors.
“What do they find on the net? And how are they regarded by those who exercise various kinds of influence over the net?” he asked, stressing that when it comes to protecting them, “we have to keep our eyes open and not hide from an unpleasant truth that we would rather not see.”
“For that matter, surely we have realized sufficiently in recent years that concealing the reality of sexual abuse is a grave error and the source of many other evils,” he said, and urged people to “face reality” in this regard.
On this point, he referred to the “extremely troubling” yet increasingly frequent diffusion of problematic activities for youth, such as the spread of extreme pornography online; “sexting” on social media; online bullying; the “sextortion” of young people on the internet; human trafficking and prostitution, as well as a rise in the commissioning of live viewings of rape and violence against minors in other parts of the world.
He also referred to what has been described as the “dark net,” in which traffickers and pedophiles use secure and anonymous channels to exchange photos and information about minors, as well as for human and drug trafficking.
These are the places “where evil finds ever new, effective and pervasive ways to act and to expand,” the Pope said, explaining that the spread of printed pornography in the past “was a relatively small phenomenon compared to the proliferation of pornography on the net.”
And unfortunately, many people are still bewildered by the fact that these things happen, he said, noting that what makes the internet so distinct “is precisely that it is worldwide.”
“It covers the planet, breaking down every barrier, becoming ever more pervasive, reaching everywhere and to every kind of user, including children, due to mobile devices that are becoming smaller and easier to use,” he said.
As a result, no one in the world today, no single nation or authority, “feels capable of monitoring and adequately controlling the extent and the growth of these phenomena,” since many are themselves linked to other serious problems involving the internet such human and drug trafficking, financial crimes and international terrorism.
From an educational standpoint, the Church is also surprised, he said, because the speed of online growth “has left the older generation on the sidelines, rendering extremely difficult, if not impossible, intergenerational dialogue and a serene transmission of rules and wisdom acquired by years of life and experience.”
However, he told the that despite the ominous and widespread nature of the threats, “we must not let ourselves be overcome by fear,” nor allow ourselves “be paralyzed” by a sense of powerlessness.
Instead, a global network must be formed to “limit and direct technology,” putting it at the service of a true human and integral progress.
In this regard, he cautioned attendees not to “underestimate” the harm done to minors by various forms of online abuse and exploitation. “These problems will surely have a serious and life-long effect on today’s children,” has has been proven many times over by fields such as neurobiology, psychology and psychiatry.
And while these crimes are especially problematic for minors, the Pope said it’s also necessary to recognize the harm done to adults, including addictions, distorted views of love and various other disorders.
“We would be seriously deluding ourselves,” he said, “were we to think that a society where an abnormal consumption of internet sex is rampant among adults could be capable of effectively protecting minors.”
Francis also cautioned against another “mistaken approach” to the problem, which he said would be to think that “automatic technical solutions,” such as filters and algorithms, are enough to deal with the problem.
While such measures are necessary and large tech companies ought to invest in speedy and effective protective software, “there is also an urgent need, as part of the process of technological growth itself, for all those involved to acknowledge and address the ethical concerns that this growth raises, in all its breadth and its various consequences.”
He also emphasized the need to not give into the mistaken “ideological and mythical” belief that the internet is “a realm of unlimited freedom.”
“The net has opened a vast new forum for free expression and the exchange of ideas and information,” yet it has also opened the door to new ways of engaging “in heinous illicit activities,” including the abuse of minors.
“This has nothing to do with the exercise of freedom,” he said. Rather, “it has to do with crimes that need to be fought with intelligence and determination, through a broader cooperation among governments and law enforcement agencies on the global level, even as the net itself is now global.”
Pope Francis closed his speech noting that when he travels abroad, he always meets and looks into the eyes of children, both rich and poor, happy and suffering.
“To see children looking us in the eye is an experience we have all had. It touches our hearts and requires us to examine our consciences,” he said.
“What are we doing to ensure that those children can continue smiling at us, with clear eyes and faces filled with trust and hope? What are we doing to make sure that they are not robbed of this light, to ensure that those eyes will not be not darkened and corrupted by what they will find on the internet, which will soon be so integral and important a part of their daily lives?”
“Let us work together,” he said, “so that we will always have the right, the courage and the joy to be able to look into the eyes of the children of our world.”
[…]
Romano Guardini foresaw one of the defining perils of modernity: man’s technological power would exceed his moral strength, and without spiritual growth to match it, he would be consumed by the very forces he unleashes.
Paul VI recognised that this dominion now extends not only over nature, but over man himself—his body, psyche, society, and even the mystery of life’s transmission. We no longer generate life; we produce it. The person becomes an object, fashioned by will and technique.
This unfolds within a culture of individualism and moral nihilism, where the criterion of the good is no longer objective truth but subjective self-determination. Relativism follows: if nothing is absolutely true, then everything is permitted—so long as it is willed. The person is reduced to a self-enclosed individual, cut off from relational truth. Freedom degenerates into solipsism.
Secularism completes this inversion: man lives as if God does not exist. Every natural or divine bond is now seen as an oppressive limit. The self becomes sovereign—and vulnerable to manipulation.
At root, this is an epistemological crisis. As Benedict XVI warned, reason has shrunk into a positivist shell, acknowledging only what can be measured and controlled. Spirit, value, meaning—these are exiled to the private realm, without public claim.
The result is a mutilated reason, unable to grasp the whole of human experience. Dignity, while often invoked, is detached from creation and reduced to the subject’s will. Body and soul are severed. Man is disincarnated, and the body becomes mere matter to be shaped or discarded at will. This is the gnostic anthropology now championed as liberation.
In this view, even invasive manipulation—surgical, hormonal, aesthetic—is not alienation but a creative act, an assertion of sovereign identity. The more unnatural, the more expressive of “authentic” selfhood. It is a reversal of creation: the body, once image of God, is now raw material; the will is the new demiurge.
We stand before a fundamental choice: either reality precedes and questions us—or we claim the right to redefine it, to recreate moral law and human nature itself. This modern revolution began with the fracture of reason (Ockham, Luther), continued through the Enlightenment’s rejection of divine law, and now culminates in gender ideology, where nature is seen as cultural invention.
The path forward begins with the rediscovery of reason enlarged by faith—what Benedict called “broad reason.” And with hope: the Eucharistic Lord reigns, and the Marian prophecies, from Fatima onward, promise the restoration of a moral and divine order. This is not merely resistance but evangelisation: to proclaim again the truth of the human person, made in the image of God.
The fact that Cardinal Eijk is a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life is reason for hope.
We read about: “International Chair of Bioethics Jérôme Lejeune, taking place in Rome from May 30–31. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘The Splendor of Truth in Science and Bioethics’.”
A most refreshing allusion to the encyclical, “The Splendor of the Truth” (St. John Paul II, “Veritatis Splendor,” 1993). https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_06081993_veritatis-splendor.html
Four key splendors:
“A separation, or even an opposition, is thus established in some cases between the teaching of the precept, which is valid and general, and the norm of the individual conscience, which would in fact make the final decision [not moral judgment] about what is good and what is evil. On this basis, an attempt is made to legitimize so-called ‘pastoral’ solutions contrary to the teaching of the Magisterium, and to justify a ‘creative’ hermeneutic according to which the moral conscience is in no way obliged, in every case, by a particular negative precept [‘thou shalt not…’]” ( n. 56).
“The relationship between faith and morality [!] shines forth with all its brilliance in the unconditional respect due to the insistent demands of the personal dignity of every man, demands protected by those moral norms which prohibit without exception [!] actions which are intrinsically evil” (n. 90).
“The Church is no way the author or the arbiter [synodality?] of this [‘moral’] norm” (n. 95).
“This is the first time, in fact, that the Magisterium of the Church [!] has set forth in detail the fundamental elements of this [‘moral’] teaching, and presented the principles for the pastoral discernment necessary in practical and cultural situations which are complex and even crucial” (n. 115).
“So we see that the gender discussion was very strong, you know, a few years ago,” he said. “They were almost pushing gender theory in society, culture, and also educational programs at elementary schools.”
By “they”, we can know through both Faith and reason, you count among the atheist materialist over population alarmist globalist , residing physically within The Catholic Church, attempting to create a counterfeit magisterium , with a counter church , and a counterfeit Papacy, that claims “If there is a union of a private nature, there is neither a third party, nor is society affected”, ipso facto deny ing The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, The Spirit Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Who Proceeds From Both The Father And His Only Begotten Son, ipso facto denying our Call to be “Temples of The Holy Ghost” and thus our Call to Holiness, ipso facto denying The Divinity of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, And Holy Ghost, and thus ipso facto placing oneself in a state of apostasy. This sentence alone is all the evidence one needs to recognize that Jorge Bergoglio was Baptized, but was certainly not converted and thus in communion with Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, And Apostolic Church prior to his election to The Papacy.
Jorge Bergoglio’s “refusal of submission to the supreme pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him“, was evident, prior to his election to the Papacy, when his heresy was manifested and made public ,in his book, On Heaven And Earth, on page 117, when he stated, in regards to same sex sexual relationships and thus same sex sexual acts, “If there is a union of a private nature, there is neither a third party, (No Holy Ghost?),nor is society affected. Now, if the union is given the category of marriage, there could be children affected. Every person needs a male father and a female mother that can help shape their identity.”
Jorge Bergoglio defected from The Catholic Church , prior to his election to The Papacy, by denying sin done in “private” relationship is sin, denying The Sanctity of the marital act within The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and that we, who are Baptized Catholic, are Called to be, “Temples of The Holy Ghost”. (God’s Universal Call To Holiness), and thus deny The Unity of The Holy Ghost, making it appear as if it is Loving and Merciful to desire that we or our Beloved remain in our sin, and not desire to overcome our sinful inclinations and become transformed by accepting Salvational Love, God’s Gift of Grace and Mercy. If it were true that it is Loving and Merciful that we desire that we or our beloved remain in our sin and not desire to overcome our disordered inclination , and become transformed through Salvational Love, God’s Gift of Grace and Mercy, we would have no need for our only Savior, Jesus The Christ.
If Pope Leo is not aware, he must be made aware, as to deny The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque), The Perfect Divine Eternal Love Between The Father And His Only Begotten Son, Is To Deny The Divinity Of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity, which is apostasy.
Jesus’ Death is The Perfect Sacrifice Of Perfect Divine Eternal Love , atoning for our sins, and makes reconciling us to God now possible, creating The Bridge from Death to Life Everlasting with The Most Holy Blessed Trinity. There is only one Bridge to Heaven, “No one can come to My Father, except Through Me”.
Let us not forget that Pope Benedict addressed all the issues of the atheist materialistic overpopulation alarmist globalists and their ilk, who are attempting to subsist within The Catholic Church , establish a counterfeit magisterium, and a counterfeit papacy in communion with those whose agenda, is not to serve Christ, but to serve the UN’s Agenda for Sustainable Development, a global plan that is anti Christ, because it ipso facto denies God, The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Complementary Divine Eternal Love, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, rendering onto the UN, what belongs to God, and thus illuminating the fact that the UN Declaration is, in essence pagan at its core.
“When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker Himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the core of his being. The defence of the family is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.” – Pope Benedict’s Christmas Address 2012
ND
About this comment. Is this the sixth time you’ve posted it, or only the fifth? And what does it have to do with Pope Leo XIV?
The study of the mind reveals a diverse spectrum of conditions where individuals hold strong convictions about their identity that diverge significantly from typical understanding. These can range from believing one is a famous person (historical figures like Jesus Christ or even aliens), to experiencing multiple personalities, or identifying as an animal (“furries”), a god, or even the opposite sex. The term “gender theory,” while referring to an academic framework, is sometimes mistakenly applied in discussions of these complex identity issues. It’s crucial to distinguish between academic theories and conditions where the mind may be experiencing a form of confusion, potentially akin to what occurs in conditions like schizophrenia.
I do not favor using or supporting the supposed “academic” field of gender theory. The conversation identity issues and confusion.
Thanks be to God for a voice of reason within the Vatican. Let’s hope he is one of many under the new pontificate. The culture shift in the US has been helped along by a new administration that sees it for what it is and rather than shoving it down our throats they have pulled on the reins.
P.S. The Pillar has an interview with Cardinal Eijk.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den that is today’s Netherlands.
There was another interview recently where he explained how the Netherlands got to where it is today.
P.P.S. Cardinal Eijk: I don’t give up – The Pillar, Oct. 30, 2023.
I am no champion for the LGBTQ “community”, but I ask, can we injure those whom we consider “evil”? I have a concern that our approach to “converting” LGBTQs is isolating them and perpetuating violence against them. My “holy” Italian Catholic neighbor disowned my good high school friend, her son, when he “came out” at age 18. He moved to another state.
Recently, DOD Secretary Hegseth was ordered to “isolate TG military soldiers to remove them.” Then, after an investigation, the TGs were found to be excellent military officers. When I was a Naval officer at the Bureau of Naval Personnel, an operator showed me two sets of discharge cards. I asked, Why are there two stacks. He said, “one is queers who will receive undesirable discharges.” I ordered him to remerge the cards.
LOrd save my soul.
“I am no champion for the LGBTQ “community”, but I ask, can we injure those whom we consider “evil”?”
Yet you constantly defend and excuse the LGBT lobby in your posts. Not very self-aware. Speaking the truth and allowing LGBT people to experience the consequences of their sin is not injury or evil. Stop defending the indefensible.
“Yet you constantly defend and excuse the LGBT lobby in your posts.” Your recall is amazing. Please tell me when I said anything relative to the LGBTQ lobby? My campaign to protect all life remains firm. My cruelly disowned close friend remains in my mind.
Remember, Jesus said while protecting the harlot from a raging all-male crowd, saying, “let HE who is without sin cast the first stone.” Basically, he means to HAKEN, we need more introspection.
morganD:
#1. We (the Catholic Church) do NOT consider anyone evil. We do say, as a Church, that certain acts are intrinsically evil. There are no persons who are unredeemable. None!
#2. When someone engages in persistent sin, despite efforts to counsel him or her, there comes a point in the relationship when to maintain the relationship pretending there is no sin, would be to do that person harm. Just because someone says their feelings are “hurt” because you cannot condone evil practices they are engaged in, does NOT mean you aren’t doing the most loving thing for them in those circumstances.
I saw this shared by Martina Navratilova about gender confused men competing in women’s sports:
“Gender ideology is male entitlement peddled as progressive.”
DiogenesRedux. I said I was no champion of LGBTQ. But I see weakness in our approach to evangelism.
You might remember when former Minnesota congresswoman, Michelle Bachman and her husband Marcus opened a “conversion therapy clinic” called “Pray the Gay away.” It was open only to men.
Times: The therapists at Bachmann & Associates aren’t very good at turning gay people straight.
The clinic was closed by authorities because they did not keep the required documents showing patient results.
I feel that our dogma does not address the potential pain inflicted by the isolation of Gays. Perhaps we might use a more holistic approach.
Thanks.