By Feroz Fernandes
Canada: A premier non-profit organization in the United States plans to launch in May the “Missionaries of Chastity” to curb internet pornography, the number one threat to innocence in the world.
Jason Evert, the founder of Chastity Project, says increased harmful online sexual activity has become a “crisis of epidemic proportions,” especially in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
While announcing the project during a webinar on December 15, 2020, Evert said it will become a “game changer” as it helps people to appreciate the beauty of human sexuality. It is a novel approach to protect teens from the increased risk of sexual activity, he added.
“Young people need to hear the good news in the digital congregation,” says David Bereit, a Pro-Life Leader, introducing the Chastity Project to more than 16,000 registered viewers.
The pandemic saw an increase in pornography consumption. At the end of March 2020 when the epidemic gripped the entire world, countries showed a spike from five to twenty-one percentage points. The pornography companies seized the opportunity to offer free premium content in the wake of the pandemic, he says.
Research suggests boys, aged between 9 and 11, are beginning to get exposed to internet porn.
“The number one sexual abuse perpetrators are 11 to 15-year-old boys, who are exposed to internet porn.” Evert says.
Parents often fail to guide their children on their first date and the threat it holds.
What is Chastity Project?
Chastity Project is in existence for over 20 years, sharing 3,000 talks on the topic while reaching millions of teens. Evert says the young people are “hungry for the message.”
The organization distributes free recourses like chastity books in schools and mission areas across the globe.
Marriage preparation is happening six months before the wedding. But Evert says that it should not be just as an immediate preparation. There is a need to focus on the proximate and remote preparation to be chaste and avoid problems from the beginning.
The Chastity Project intervention is seeing the most results among teens, Evert claims. He is confident that the right resources at the right time can avoid unforeseen pregnancies, stop abortions, and abusive relationships.
Forged, a new book by Evert and Matt Fradd, invites readers to send a text to receive six emails containing free formation videos. The participants will then receive an invitation to launch a project of their choice to reach out to people with the core chastity message. They then become the missionaries of chastity. The chart suggests 500 new missionaries in the first year of the launch.
Chastity Project has a hurdle to mobilize missionaries to spread the Good News. Evert requests prayer and fasting to turn the idea into reality. Chastity Project plans to send a copy of the book to every seminarian in America.
Evert tells a story behind the domain name: chastity.com. It was owned by a satanic group, propagating sexually explicit material. When Jason wanted to buy it, the owner quoted a six-figure price. Evert asked the cloistered nuns to pray. The money did not show up, but an exciting thing happened. The owner went bankrupt and was ready to sell the domain name at a much lesser price. Another porn competitor was seeking to buy the domain name. But finally, a family man, who was part of the board, sold it to Jason and his wife, Crystalina.
The couple runs regular podcasts. Evert talks about “Lust Is Boring,” and Crystalina motivates with “Women Made New.”
Christopher West, Theology of the Body Institute, says a “starvation gospel” forbids healthy conversations about Christian sexuality. Because people don’t get enough, they rush to the “fast-food gospel,” a world of instant gratification on the internet. Christopher West opens a new choice towards God’s banquet of love that quenches the hunger for love.
(Father Feroz Fernandes serves as a fidei donum (the gift of faith) priest in the missions of Northwestern Canada. The encyclical of Pius XII on April 21, 1957, titled “Fidei donum” urges bishops to make priests available to other continents and share his vision “to face the challenges of the universal mission of the Church.” These priests remain attached to their original diocese even while working in missions abroad.)
Promoting healthy sexual ethics is to be appreciated. But the name “Missionaries of Chastity” that sounds like Mother Teresa’s congregation is yuck. It could actually turn young people off.