United Nations Sex Scandal Gets Scant Coverage

NEWSMAX.COM, May 7—Even as the United Nations wrapped up its contentious conference on children—in which the Holy See and the United States fought with some success to keep “abortion rights” out of the prescription for young people's well-being—most media have been quiet about the unfolding scandal of U.N. aid workers sexually exploiting vulnerable young people, in return for desperately needed food and shelter.

The conservative Web site Newsmax.com and the news service UPI reported on the abuses in West Africa, especially Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, which were first uncovered in February, and have provoked an investigation by U.N. officials. “We can barely cope with the cases that are being referred to us,” Dileep Nair, U.N. undersecretary general admitted to UPI.

In 2001, more than 400 cases were reported of such abuse. In a report, U.N. staffers “acknowledged that they knew such practices happened. Regrettably, even in situations where such information had been brought to their attention in the past, no action had been taken to monitor or redress the situation.”

Newsmax.com pointed to the relatively slight media attention to these ongoing abuses, compared to saturation coverage of long-past cases concerning Catholic clergymen.

Church in Philippines Scrubs the Net

ANANOVA.COM, May 12–Catholic leaders in the Philippines have spotted a serious threat to the practice of the Faith—Internet addiction—and acted to protect the faithful, reported the Internet news site.

Concerned that thousands of Filipinos have become hooked on Internet pornography, gambling and violent content, bishops in the Philippines have launched their own filtered Internet service, CBCP World. This service, they said, “assures the users of fast access to wholesome, clean and educational materials.” A similar service exists in the United States, provided by www.familink.com.

At a public Mass in a park in Manila that accompanied this announcement, Bishop Jesus Cabrera lamented: “Many are so addicted to the Internet that they don't go to church anymore.”

At his Mass May 12 for Ascension Sunday, Pope John Paul II announced a new Church document, “Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel.” Said the Pope, “We must enter into this modern and ever- more replete communications network with realism and confidence, convinced that, if it is used with competence and conscientious responsibility, it can offer useful opportunities for spreading the Gospel message.”

Burrowing into Mohammed's Mountain

THE TIMES OF LONDON, May 5—It's not widely known outside missionary circles that Christianity is illegal in many Muslim countries, the London daily noted.

In Saudi Arabia, preaching Christ or saying Mass is punishable by death. In Egypt, a moderate ally of the United States that was Christian for centuries before the Islamic conquest in the 8th century, conversion to Christianity is also subject to the death penalty.

In Pakistan, speech disrespectful of Mohammed—for instance, a recital of those sections in Dante's Inferno that depict him in hell as a “sower of discord”—can also merit beheading.

But dozens of British missionaries have decided to brave these dangers and infiltrate “Dar-Al-Islam,” by taking “sleeper” jobs and preaching Christ secretly, reported the Times. An evangelical group called Frontiers, based in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, has for at least 10 years sent members to take jobs as teachers and doctors, to offer Christ to souls where the Gospel is prohibited by law.