CBCP World, more than a business

Trying to ward off criticism from within their ranks, Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III said yesterday that the new Internet venture of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) would serve as a forum of evangelization and not just a business venture.

Quitorio made the assurance after Manila Auxiliary Bishop Teodoro Bacani expressed disappointment at the previous effort of Quitorio, Bataan Bishop Honesto Ongtioco and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz to set up an Internet service provider (ISP), called CBCPNet.

Bacani had said the Church had "no business getting into business," like CBCPNet which went bankrupt amid a financial scandal, and that the clergy should primarily be concerned with saving souls.

But Quitorio explained that the CBCP’s new Internet venture, CBCP World, would be a helpful tool in evangelization especially since the youth are very interested in the Internet.

"The primary information we will give here is, first, catechetical. Second, educational, those which are used in schools. Third, those dealing with advocacy, such as social services for the poor," he said.

The monsignor denied that CBCP World was meant to be a business and reiterated that it was meant to be an Internet portal for the use of the faithful through their archdioceses.

"It is more than just a website," he said. "It is a portal, a warehouse of data regarding subjects taken up in schools, just like a library via the Internet."

"(CBCP World) is a broadband provider, giving bandwidth (to) dioceses and schools with networking. The primary intent is to (provide) content which is evangelical," he added.

Quitorio said the CBCP World’s content would be approved by an "Internet Council" composed of Jesuits and Christian Brothers, or Lasallian religious.

According to CBCP World’s original aim it would also serve as a "filter" that would prevent the faithful from accessing "unwholesome" websites.