Vatican assails sex industry at World Cup

VATICAN CITY - A Holy See representative denounced on Friday the prostitution industry that looms in the background of the World Cup soccer competition in Germany. The World Cup opened Friday midnight Manila time.

Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, told Vatican Radio that behind the phenomenon of prostitution is the trafficking in human beings.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has warned that 30,000 to 60,000 women and girls will fall victim to forced prostitution and abuse during the World Cup.

Prostitution was legalized in Germany in 2002. The sex industry has prepared for the expected influx of three million soccer fans by constructing mega-brothels and “sex shacks,” with private parking, showers and the promise to maintain clients’ privacy.