World Media Watch

Human Eggs for Sale on the Internet

BBC NEWS, Aug. 22 — An Internet site that gives infertile women the opportunity to buy human eggs online has been launched in the United Kingdom, BBC News reported.

The website, called WomanNotIncluded, is believed to be the first of its kind. It is a sister-site to the existing ManNotIncluded, from which potential parents can buy sperm. So far, 40 donors have signed up to the site from the UK and France.

Women looking for an egg donor will pay the site a subscription fee of around $261 and between approximately $1,080 and $2,160 extra for each search of the database and introduction they receive.

Nuala Scarisbrick, of the British pro-life organization Life, said, “These sites are encouraging people to act without any dignity or respect for human life. We are talking about the trade of human eggs and sperm — let us not forget that.”

Priest Is Charged in Bishop's Murder

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Aug. 21 — A Kenyan priest and five other people were charged with murdering Bishop Luigi Locati in a plot to control church funds, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Bishop Locati, of the Diocese of Isiolo, was gunned down July 14 while walking with a guard to his house in an impoverished area of central Kenya where he had worked for decades.

Court documents allege that Father Guyo Wako Malley wanted to kill the 77-year-old bishop to ensure that funds coming to the diocese passed through his office rather than the bishop's.

Senior State Counsel Jacob Ondari charged Father Malley and the others with murder. All six pleaded not guilty. The suspects were ordered held until Sept. 7, when the court will set a trial date.

Colombian Rebels ‘Regret’ Killing Priests

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Aug. 21 — A leftist rebel group acknowledged Aug. 20 that its fighters killed two Catholic priests last week, but said the killings were a mistake and promised to punish those responsible, the Associated Press reported.

The two priests, Fathers Vicente Bayona and Jesus Mora, were killed Aug. 15 along with two construction workers when gunmen ambushed their car on a remote country road in northeast Colombia.

“We are aware of the irreparable damage that this act has caused,” the National Liberation Army, known by its Spanish acronym ELN, said in a statement. “We regret it deeply and ask for forgiveness.”

In the statement, the ELN's central command blamed the killings on an “operational error” and said those responsible would be “tried with full rigor.”

But Msgr. Hector Henao, who mediated in peace efforts during Colombia's 41-year civil war, told the Associated Press the rebel apology was insufficient.

He said, “I think the ELN should pay for their mistake not just by asking for forgiveness, but by opening a peace dialogue.”