“Clean eyes, pure heart” - the dangers of Internet pornography

​Internet pornography is said to be the fastest growing addiction in the world. It has become the new pandemic. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines noted, “Given the all-pervasiveness of the Internet, it should not be surprising that pornography has invaded our homes, workplaces, schools, and churches.” For the majority of people, including adolescents, porn viewing is another new normal, as we note with alarm the average age for first watching porn is just eight years old. The Filipino Bishops again underline that, “these young people are the future husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, of our nation, whose capacity for self-giving love has been deeply wounded.”
 
Seeing the urgent need to tackle this topic, James McTavish gave a formation titled “Clean eyes, pure heart – the dangers of Internet pornography” through a prepared video, and a question and answer session. The participants were University students in the apostolate of the Verbum Dei community in Sydney, as well as young adults from the Ryde Gladesville parish, led by our Verbum Dei missionary there, (and newly ordained Deacon!) Steve Drum. His brother Dan was also able to join, along with some misioneros from Quezon city - Gelo, Rudy and Iwao.
 
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches, pornography offends against chastity, does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), and is a grave offense (see CCC n. 2354). Its effects are so widespread that it has become a structure of sin., and as an evangelizing community, Verbum Dei desires that “the Word may have an impact on the unjust structures of the world in order to transform them according to the Kingdom of God” (Verbum Dei Constitutions, n. 55).
 
Let us all do our part to deter our brothers and sisters from watching porn, which is known as the “new drug” (see https://fightthenewdrug.org/ for helpful resources to fight against this issue). And may we endeavor that in “in the world of the internet, which enables billions of images to appear on millions of screens throughout the world, the face of Christ needs to be seen and his voice heard” (Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, no. 113).
 
Here are some photos of the event:

Photos by Patrick Lee of Goodthiefphotography

The video formation of James entitled “Clean eyes, pure heart - Dangers of Internet Pornography” can be viewed on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCBF7Aummnk&feature=youtu.be

​Or you can watch it below: