Vatican sees red

The Vatican has expressed alarm over reports that thousands of women may be forced to go to Germany and work as prostitutes during the World Cup which started last Friday. Monsignor Agostino Marchetto, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants, said it was already bad enough that prostitution was legal in Germany. What is worse, he said, is that a predicted 40,000 more women would now enter the circuit. Many of them are forced into this activity against their will. They are the object of trafficking, he said in a recent interview with Vatican Radio. With about a million people expected to flood into Germany starting June 9, there is widespread expectation that the countrys sex industry will experience a boom. Several human rights groups have predicted a demand for extra prostitutes who would probably come from countries in Eastern Europe. Some red cards should be handed out to this industry, to its clients and to the public authorities which host the event, Msgr. Marchetto said. Prostitution violates the dignity of human beings, and women become merchandise to be bought, at a cost which is even less than that of a ticket for a soccer match. The United States recently wrote to the German government about the same issue and raised its fears in meetings with officials in Germany.