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Pedophilia is a crime that kills children but one that is still generally treated with indifference. This is the strongly held view of Fr. Fortunato Di Noto, founder of the association 'Meter', which has been fighting for over 20 years to protect children from pedophilia, child pornography and sexual exploitation.
Meter's aim is not only to reduce the amount of crime, but to prevent and educate through its 15 branches and 300 workers in Italy who work for child protection. It also exerts worldwide influence through the constant monitoring of the internet, in cooperation with law enforcement.
Pedophilia is a crime, yes, but it is also a money-making machine. The figures are alarming: over 13 billion euro per year, involving over 200,000 abused children, including an increasing number of babies aged between a few days and two years.
Yet Fr. Di Noto points out that most of the scandals in the press concern only pedophile priests, and don't seem to address the phenomenon itself which is of far greater proportions.
Fr. Fortunato Di Noto: "The most striking thing is that while we have talked about pedophilia in the clergy, the global phenomenon of pedophilia has not been discussed. And the global phenomenon of sexual abuse is before the eyes of all. What impresses me, and what in essence makes the difference, is that the newspapers, probably influenced much by communication, lobbyists, have spoken more of this than of the gravity of pedophilia itself, more than the seriousness of sexual exploitation of children, the seriousness of the sex tourism of children, the gravity of selling children and of the rape of children. This is a blatant and visible demonstration of how certain press, moved by certain types of lobbying mentalities, sometimes communicate false, unverifiable, or exploitive information."
For the founder of Meter, the growing prevalence of pedophilia through major social networks means parents must show greater responsibility and vigilance.
Fr. Fortunato Di Noto: "The question is: why are there 180 000 children in Italy under the age of 13 who are enrolled on Facebook without authorization? And this means that there are 180,000 families who do not monitor the actions of these children. [...]
"Because if you put a great communication tool such as the Internet into the hands of children, you must likewise impose, on one hand, the idea of safety, which is not only concerned with giving information, but is also education. On the other hand, you must also deal with the larger field of communication, which should invest more by way of filters and educational means to reach children."
So the question is: how to transform the Internet into an effective tool for communicating the Gospel to children "born in the digital age."
Fr. Fortunato Di Noto: "Basically we have to discover once again a new language to reach children. So I ask myself: while we are speaking, there are children who are surfing, using the Net .. how can the message of Jesus reach those children who surf the Net and are on Facebook?"
