With FAITH there is HOPE!
When each of us works for a better tomorrow, even the smallest action can make a BIG difference.
This page serves as a Resource Center for
information and resources to bring to our families and parishes.
Scroll down for information on home computer safety.
Telling your children not to talk to strangers
is no longer enough!
A home computer without an Internet protection program is like a house with no locks on the doors!
For TIPS on keeping your children and grandchildren safe
click here
KEEPING YOUR CHILDREN SAFE
Information for parents on how to protect your children is availble from the office of Safe Environment Program in the Archdiocse of St. Louis.
In addition, parents may want to spend some time browsing the Keeping Kids Safer on the Internet webpages. You will find information on recognizing and minimizing the risks to Internet usage by children.
Child molesters have admitted to using pornography to lure youngsters into threatening situations. Unfortunately, a youngster who spends time alone using the Internet can be easy prey to molesters. The National Juvenile Online Victimization Study "showed that it is not uncommon for young people, ages 12 to 18, to be solicited for real-life meetings or sexual contact by adults they meet online and that certain characteristics and behaviors place young people at higher risk." For more information on protecting your children and how you can teach your children Internet safety to prevent this from happening, check out VIRTUS Online (the National Catholic Risk Retention Group).
HOW TO BE CHRISTIAN in the DIGITAL WORLD
Excerpt from OSV article:
Pope Benedict XVI made no bones about it.
“There exists a Christian way of being present in the digital world,” he wrote in his 2011 World Communication Day Message....
It’s about how we Google, surf and tweet. How we chat on Facebook. How we comment on blogs. It’s about the websites we visit, and it’s about the amount of time we spend on those websites. It’s about the relationships we form in the virtual world, and it’s about the relationships we’re charged to nurture in the real world. It’s about being witnesses every day, in every way, regardless of where we’re witnessing: home, school, work or the comment boxes at... [click here to read more]
Two years ago, the Columbia, Missouri, paper reported on how child abusers use the Internt to lure in innocent youngsters. It's worth reading. You may have told your children never to talk to strangers, but do you know who they're speaking to online?
Missouri Internet Crime Investigation
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/12/08/internet-crimes-unit-faces-many-challenges/
ADVOCACY NEWS
January 3, 2011 The Missouri House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety is poised to hold a hearing on HB 214, a bill sponsored by Anne Zerr (R-St. Charles) that would strengthen Missouri's human trafficking laws. A hearing for the bill was scheduled for Feb. 2, but the hearing was canceled because of the blizzard that blanketed Jefferson City with snow and caused winter misery throughout the state.
The MCC was actively involved in drafting HB 214. The bill provides women who are trafficked for the sex trade with legal defenses to prostitution charges when they are forced to participate in prostitution while victims of trafficking. The bill also requires law enforcement to refer these women to the Department of Social Services so they can be evaluated for treatment, and it defines the restitution that must be paid to the victims. It also provides the women trafficked with the ability to sue their "pimps" for civil damages, and allows the Attorney General to sue businesses that benefit financially from trafficking.
Catholics can
make a difference
by working together in ADVOCACY against pornography
A Few Options…
You can get involved in helping to change this culture of pornography. Below are just a few options:
- Advocate for “Theology of the Body” study groups at your Parish
- Write to your state and federal representatives in Congress regarding pornography laws
- Pray for an end to objectification of human life
- Boycott purveyors of pornographic material and their sponsors. Check the list.
- Educate your children about God’s plan for human love
- Organize a parish group to hold a prayer vigil near an adult video store or strip club
- Raise funds to rent a billboard near an adult video store or strip bar, that advocates the dignity of the human person (you could even hold a contest for the best slogan/statement/graphics to be put on the billboard)
- Write letters to national/local media outlets demanding greater responsibility (national media outlets listed below)
Speak Out, Write In: National Media Contacts
The Missouri Catholic Conference helps you find the contact information for your Legislator
Easy to do - go to MCC webpage and enter your location. Click here.
Parishes may want to consider contacting Citizens Against Pornography (CAP), a St. Louis based organization that has worked to educate the public on the dangers of pornography since 1989. CAP provides speakers at no charge. A listing of topics can be found in the Appendix. Or contact Carl Henrickson (314) 892-6451, carl@hendricksons.org, http://capstlouis.org.
Citizens Against Pornography Website
Morality in Media - Supporting a decent Society Through Law - Needs your support. Check out the website for ideas on how to support this effort. Bumper sticker available: Porn Kills Love. Order at the website.
CYBER SAFETY
Many companies offer programs that help to safeguard your computer from unwanted Internet sites. The following is a partial list to help you get started shopping for the one that best fits your family's needs.
ENDOW: Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women
ENDOW is a Catholic educational program that brings women together to discover their God-given dignity and to understand their role in humanizing and transforming society. ENDOW utilizes small study groups, conferences and retreats to cultivate faith, fellowship and formation. ENDOW study groups meet weekly or bi-weekly over an eight-to-ten week period. No homework is required.
Founded in 2003, ENDOW is a growing Ecclesiastical organization, and the majority of the people involved in ENDOW are Catholic women in the pews of parishes across the country. ENDOW is open to all spiritualities recognized by the Catholic Church. This is the distinctive charisma of ENDOW: a blend of the many beautiful spiritualities within the Church working together to offer a program of study on Catholic feminism.
ENDOW attracts women from all walks of life. Through small study groups ENDOW inspires women toward deeper spirituality and leads women to personalize their faith. Central to ENDOW’s program is an emphasis on the dignity and respect of the person rather than on what people “do” in life.
The ENDOW program is based on the official teachings of the Catholic Church. In addition to engaging the intellect of the women, ENDOW encourages women to incorporate Catholic teaching into their daily lives.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis offers ENDOW Facilitator Training.
Contact Nancy J. Werner, the Chancellor, at nwerner@archstl.org or 314.792.7836
And for more information on ENDOW, visit: www.endowonline.com or call 303-715-3224.
Clergy Page - New York Archdiocese
Help and Healing
Excerpt from OSV article on training the clergy to help those struggling with an addiction to pornography:
Dr. Kleponis helped the priests of the Archdiocese of New York.
“Every day I talk to people who are struggling with this addiction,” said Kleponis, of the Institute for Marital Healing in West Conshohocken, Pa. “I don’t have any clients struggling with drug addiction or alcohol addiction alone. It’s mainly all pornography.”
He told Our Sunday Visitor he talks to priests around the country, and “this is the No. 1 sin they are hearing from men in the confessional.”
It’s no wonder. While reliable statistics on the size of the pornography industry are hard to come by, anecdotal evidence of a massive problem is not.
How to Meet Your Soulmate: Without Losing Your Soul - Great book for single women who wonder how to meet the love of their life. The authors offer twenty-one strategies to help you raise the bar, instead of sitting at it, waiting around for Mr. Wonderful.
A Bishop Speaks Out about the dangers of pornography
Pornography: Epidemic Attacking Human Dignity
Daily there are challenges to this pure Christian love. For some months, representatives of our
Catholic Diocese have been working with leaders of other faith traditions to address the serious
dangers represented by the steady increase of pornography in our culture. Pornography is not
new, but it has become a kind of plague in our society, reaching epidemic proportions. It is being
propagated more widely than ever. Well beyond magazines, it is widespread on the internet,
television, movies and videos, and now on cell phones and other handheld devices, many of
which are marketed to children and youth. Pornography has become the secret entertainment of
many people of all ages, walks of life, and economic backgrounds. Use of internet pornography
is perhaps the fastest growing addiction in the world.
click here to read more
