Post by J on Apr 8, 2008 16:47:18 GMT -5
CaribWorldNews, VATICAN CITY, Rome, Tues. April 8, 2008: Pope Benedict XVI, who is set to tour the U.S. from April 15, has decried what he called the negative effects of tourism on the West Indies Antilles.
Addressing the Antilles bishops' conference of 13 independent states and six territories under British, French and Dutch rule Monday, Pope Benedict said some of the tourism influences on the islands `not only undermine family life and unsettle the foundations of traditional cultural values, but tend to affect negatively, local politics.`
Catholic World News reports quoted him as saying, `To varying degrees, your shores have been battered by negative aspects of the entertainment industry, exploitative tourism and the scourge of the arms and drugs trade.`
He appealed to the visiting bishops to push their support of marriage and family life to ensure cohesion within communities are upheld.
Like many Caribbean islands, the West Indies Antilles, which includes the island countries of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico and the Leeward and Windward Islands, are heavily dependent on tourism as a major foreign exchange earner. – CaribWorldNews.com