CBCP offers web counseling for sex abuse victims

Riding on the popularity of the Internet, Catholic clerics in the Philippines are set to launch their own cyber-evangelization drive via Internet chat rooms that would enable them to directly answer questions regarding the Catholic faith.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said the chat rooms would be one of the features of "CBCP World," the new Internet venture he formed with Bataan Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, Bishop PedroQuitorio III and the Transpacific Broadcasting Group Inc.

Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the chat rooms would be manned by priests, nuns, bishops, psychologists, social workers and other competent lay people.

The archbishop said the chat rooms, soon to be available at www.cbcpworld.com, would be open 24 hours everyday and would be available to everyone, including victims of sexual abuse by priests.

Cruz said CBCP World, the successor to the bankrupt CBCPNet that is now saddled with some P190 million in debt, would also serve as a portal of information on issues confronting the Catholic Church.

The three prelates incorporated CBCP World, a network service provider that aims to reach 1,500 schools and 2,190 parishes nationwide. About a third of the 81 ecclesiastical territories in the country have expressed support for the project.

Meanwhile, the CBCP has formed an information technology council to support and assist in the planning of church initiative in the IT field.

The IT council was conceived as a consultative body that would advise the Philippine episcopacy on IT issues and how they could be utilized for evangelization.

The IT council will be composed of representatives from schools and religious congregations already involved in IT and would have the necessary experience and expertise in program planning and development.

During its first meeting on May 11, the IT council affirmed the need to harness the Internet for evangelization.

Evangelization is one of the three main objectives of CBCP World. The new Internet portal also aims to offer a filtering service that would weed out pornography, violence, gambling, Satanism and other similar websites.

CBCP World could also be a vehicle to educate people in remote and poor areas of the country, Cruz added.