Bishop: Media to blame for youth's sexual mood

MANILA, Philippines - A Catholic bishop in Davao blamed Thursday the media and its influence for what he called the improper sexual attitude among young people. Mati Bishop Patricio Alo said the reach and impact of media can influence the thinking and actions of people, including their sexual attitude. "It is because of the media impact and internet that many people dress immodestly and meet the temptations of sex based too on the innate effects of original sin that makes us prone to sin," Alo said in a statement posted Thursday night on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website. Alo scored in particular the rise of reproductive health agenda, which he said is also being promoted by media. He said the reproductive health agenda is futile because it resulted into uncontrolled sex. The prelate said the instinct is strong nowadays because youths are emboldened by the false liberality of the contraceptive pills. "See the consequences. The rise of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, the AIDS epidemic with no clear cure or solution, the millions of abortion, the numberless divorces, and the spread of venereal diseases," he said. Alo also said that regardless of whether ordinary people pretend to be invulnerable to such influence of not, "man is ever weak in himself." "We cannot keep on giving personal excuses because God has provided the source of strength and these can be found in prayer and in the sacraments," he said. The only way to eradicate all these, he said, is to follow God's plan for our lives. "Abstinence before marriage and fidelity after and you need God's grace for this which is our point here," he said. - GMANews.TV