Watching the World
Celibacy—Why?
“The conflict over celibacy in the Catholic Church is one of the priesthood’s greatest challenges,” reports Veja magazine. “In 1970, 10,000 priests were listed as having given up their position in order to marry. Today, there are 120,000—12 times that number. In Brazil, the number of priests who have made this decision has increased 20 times in the same period.” Though their argument has no basis in the Scriptures, church leaders in Roman Catholicism defend the practice of celibacy by saying that it allows the priest to “give more attention to God” and to concentrate on his work. “But the real argument that sustains celibacy is very mundane,” says Veja. “The idea came up in the Middle Ages to preserve the material patrimony of the church, preventing descendants from obtaining land and other possessions.”
Slaughter by Trawling
“Each year, an area of the world’s seabed larger than all of Canada is trawled,” states a report in The Globe and Mail. “In trawling and dredging, heavy nets are pulled across the sea floor, indiscriminately killing fish and bottom-dwelling animals that are important for the ocean food chain. Many species not sought by fishermen are also caught in the nets and are killed.” Researchers estimate that “for each shrimp caught by trawling, 10 or more small turbot or young cod are caught in the nets and die.” Where the seabed has been trawled, sponges, mussels, and crustaceans are almost all gone, says the report. Explains University of Maine oceanography professor Les Watling: “It doesn’t take a marine biologist to realize that these fishing methods are terrible for marine animals. Nothing humans do to the sea has more physical impact.” Likening the devastation to the clear-cutting of forests on land, biologists are calling for setting aside certain areas as marine reserves.
Chemicals in Toys
“A group of chemicals commonly used to soften children’s toys are almost 20 times more dangerous than previously thought,” reports The Independent, a London newspaper. Research in the Netherlands shows that phthalates—softeners of hard plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride—are found in teething rings and other toys that young children chew on and that these chemicals are readily released into saliva. Tests revealed that high doses of two common phthalates “can cause liver and kidney cancer, and shrink testicles.” Young children are particularly at risk because their “low weight, developing biology and potentially long exposure makes them relatively more sensitive to chemicals,” the article states. Professor James Bridges, a British scientist reviewing the problem for the European Commission, expressed concern particularly for “children who are institutionalised, say in a poorly run day-care centre or hospital, since they tend to chew toys because they have nothing else to do.” Six countries have already banned the chemicals from toys, and four more are preparing to do so.
Parishes Without Priests
Many Catholic parishes in Italy—3,800, to be exact—do not have a resident parish priest, notes a survey conducted by the church’s Pastoral Orientation Center. And these are not just parishes in rural or isolated areas. According to the newspaper La Repubblica, “a ‘resident parish priest’ is often missing even in medium-sized urban centers (of between one and three thousand inhabitants).” To mask the shortage, groups of parishes are usually entrusted to a single appointee or to a group of priests. “But, in this way,” explains the newspaper, “the parish priest’s direct and daily contact with his parishioners is lost, and . . . priests are forced to run, breathless, from one place to another.” The shortage is being addressed in various ways. Large cities like Rome have recruited foreign priests. At least two Italian parishes are now assigned to laymen, who cannot hold Mass and must limit themselves to imparting Communion or performing christenings in cases of emergency.
Escalating Bankruptcies
“America is in the midst of a bankruptcy crisis,” says U.S. senator Charles Grassley. Since U.S. bankruptcy laws were established a century ago, some 20 million Americans have filed for personal bankruptcy, and more than half of these have done so since 1985. By mid-1998, bankruptcy filings had reached a record 1.42 million for the preceding 12 months. Why the escalating figures? According to U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, the dramatic rise in bankruptcies can be partly attributed to changes “in the stigma associated with the issue of going bankrupt.” Another factor is said to be “the rise of a credit-soaked culture in which consumers have become accustomed to carrying ever-mounting loads of personal debt,” says The Wall Street Journal.
Odor-Free Clothing?
“For two years now, textile professionals have realized the importance of bioactive cloth, variously labeled as antibacterial . . . or antiodor,” states the French newspaper Le Monde. The market for antibacterial cloth is increasing. While this material is principally used in bedding, it is now also used to make socks and underwear. Not all, however, are so enthusiastic about using cloth containing phenols and heavy metals that alter the way bacteria work, as many bacteria are beneficial to humans. “In order to carry out its functions properly, our skin needs all its natural guests,” notes Le Monde. “Manufacturers of antibacterial textiles have got to come to terms with a real quandary”—how to limit the growth of harmful bacteria without killing off the bacteria that are necessary to fight infection.
More Water Worries
“Not only is our drinking water full of pesticides, but it now looks like it’s full of drugs, too,” says New Scientist. The drugs come from a number of sources. Unwanted medicines are sometimes disposed of by being flushed down the toilet. Additionally, drugs are excreted through the urine. “Between 30 and 90 per cent of an administered dose of most antibiotics to humans and animals is excreted with the urine,” says Bent Halling-Sorensen, of the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy. Farmers have routinely used animal urine and manure on their fields. When drugs reach the environment, they may be in their original form, or having been changed by the human body, they may be in a form more reactive or toxic than the original and one that is often more soluble in water. “Drugs are one of the few groups of chemicals in water that we don’t monitor,” says Steve Killeen, of Britain’s Environment Agency.
Growing U.S. Prison Population
“The scale of imprisonment in America is now unmatched in any democracy, and is greater than even most totalitarian governments have ever attempted,” notes The Economist. “Last year one in every 150 [U.S.] residents (children included) was behind bars.” The rate of incarceration is 20 times that of Japan, 6 times that of Canada, and from 5 to 10 times that of Western European countries. The number of prisoners in the United States has quadrupled since 1980. Over 400,000 of those now imprisoned are there because of drug offenses, yet the number of people abusing drugs has remained unchanged since 1988. Asks The Economist: “Whether or not prison works as a crime-fighting tool, how much further down the road of ever more frequent imprisonment can America go?”
Gambling on Armageddon
Each week dozens of people in Britain are “placing bets on Armageddon,” reports The Guardian. A survey of 1,001 adults revealed that 33 percent think the end of the world will come as a result of a world war, while 26 percent think that the end will be caused by global warming. Others speculate that collision with an asteroid will be the cause. In fact, 59 percent of those surveyed “think they have more chance of experiencing the end of the world than winning the National Lottery,” says The Guardian. Why this speculation about Armageddon? People are “possibly inspired by the Millennium and the feeling of doom surrounding it,” comments the newspaper.