By Gudrun Schultz
VATICAN CITY, June 9, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican has condemned Germany’s promotion of prostitution during the World Cup and called for prosecution and heavy fines on those who profit from sex industry and human trafficking, Catholic News Service reported yesterday.
“Prostitution, in fact, violates the dignity of the human person, reducing [her] to an object and instrument of sexual pleasure. Women have become market commodities, which can be bought. And they cost less than a ticket for a football match,” Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, said on Vatican Radio June 8.
“Many of them are forced into this activity. They are doing it against their will, they are trafficked. This is a fundamental human rights violation.”
Prostitution was made legal in Germany over three years ago. The country has received heavy international criticism for its blatant encouragement of sex tourism for the World Cup, which is being held in 12 German cities June 9-July 9. Owners in the sex trade industry have capitalized on the expected influx of fans by constructing drive-in “sex huts”, opening a four-story brothel next to the World Cup stadium in Berlin, and importing an estimated 40,000 additional sex-trade workers, German newspapers have reported.
Many of the women brought in as prostitutes will come from Eastern Europe or from poor European nations, according to international agencies and religious organizations concerned over the exploitation of women from areas known for human trafficking problems.
Archbishop Marchetto said German authorities had a special responsibility to interfere and place limits on prostitution.
He also called on the Church to examine the motives of men who seek out prostitutes, saying the Church should educate boys and men in healthy human sexuality, as well as working to defend women forced into the sex trade through trafficking and exploitation.
Msgr. Aldo Giordano, secretary-general of the Council of European Bishops Conferences, said the open promotion of prostitution during the World Cup was a “scandal,” and entirely against the spirit of the World Cup. He also said he hoped Europeans, particularly women, would react strongly against the marketing of women during the event.
“The churches want to challenge this with all their strength, because it is a real sign of decadence in Europe,” he said.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Germany Bans Media from Prostitute Areas for Interfering with Business
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06053002.html
German Government Blasted for Facilitating Massive Prostitution at World Cup in Berlin
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06050108.html
Official Catholic Church Women’s Group Involved in Legal Prostitution Scheme in Germany
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06050408.html
Germany Forcing Unemployed Women into Legalized Prostitution
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05013106.html