[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Major Variola ret) writes:
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020122/wr/pope_internet_dc_1.html
>
> [The primo quote comes at the end: "In his first message sent to
> the world directly over the Internet last November, Pope John Paul
> apologized to victims of sexual abuse by priests and other clergy.
> " Folks raped by digital communications: zero. Folks raped by papal
> employees: thousands and counting.]
>
> Pope Says Internet 'Wonderful' but Needs Regulating
>
> By Crispian Balmer
>
> VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Internet caters to the best and worst
> of human nature and needs regulation to stop depravity flooding
> cyberspace, Pope John Paul (news - web sites) said Tuesday.
>
> The 81-year old Pontiff, who last year sent his first message over the
> Internet, praised it as a ``wonderful instrument'' that should be used
> to spread the word of God and encourage global peace.
>
> However, he warned that while it offered access to immense knowledge,
> the Internet did not necessarily provide wisdom and could easily be
> perverted to demean human dignity.
>
> ``Despite its enormous potential for good, some of the degrading and
> damaging ways the Internet can be used are already obvious to all,''
> the Pope said in a message prepared for World Communications Day.
>
> ``Public authorities surely have a responsibility to guarantee that
> this marvelous instrument serves the common good and does not become a
> source of harm,'' he added.
>
> Although the Pope does not have an e-mail address, the Vatican (news -
> web sites) has an active Web site (www.vatican.va) and the Church is
> reportedly searching for a patron saint of Internet users.
>
> The question of regulation has inflamed passions since the Internet
> sprang to prominence in the 1990s, with enthusiasts arguing that
> cyberspace should not be pegged back behind national boundaries or
> rules.
>
> The Pope warned that not only did the Internet allow the spread of
> depraved material, it could also lead people to believe that facts
> mattered more than values.
>
> ``The Internet offers extensive knowledge, but it does not teach
> values and when values are disregarded, our very humanity is
> demeaned,'' he said, adding that the system focused people's attention
> on an ``almost unending flood of information.''
>
> ``Yet human beings have a vital need for time and inner quiet to
> ponder and examine life and its mysteries,'' he said. ''Understanding
> and wisdom are the fruit of a contemplative eye upon the world,
> and do not come from a mere accumulation of facts, no matter how
> interesting.''
>
> He said the Catholic Church had adapted to every discovery through
> the ages, from the Renaissance to the invention of printing and the
> Industrial Revolution, and must now learn to reach the masses via
> cyberspace.
>
> ``Like the new frontiers of other times, this one too is full of the
> interplay of danger and promise,'' he said.
>
> ``For the Church the new world of cyberspace is a summons to the great
> adventure of using its potential to proclaim the Gospel message.''
>
> In his first message sent to the world directly over the Internet last
> November, Pope John Paul apologized to victims of sexual abuse by
> priests and other clergy.
