This essay addresses the question: Does the Internet bring more harm than good? And the answer is sought by the largest Christian denomination (one billion members): the Catholic Church. There is no condemnation of the Internet by this ecclesiastical body; rather the Vatican, the official voice of the Catholic Church, maintains that the Internet "is not a threat" (Church). Calling the Internet an opportunity and a challenge and not a threat, the Vatican has released two documents that encourage the Church to embrace technology and help guide it to the benefit of all humanity. The documents say the interactive nature of the Internet could help the Church realize the vision of communication among its members, moving away from the one-way, top-down communication of the past. Among practical responses to potential ethical and social problems related to the Internet, the documents recommended greater self-regulation of the industry, voluntary church "certification" of sites that call themselves Catholic, and careful supervision of children's Web browsing (Ethics ). The two 27-page documents, "Ethics on the Internet" - a reflection on ethical issues - and "The Church and the Internet" - an assessment of online pastoral opportunities - were released at a Vatican press conference. The documents were prepared by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Russell Shaw, an American journalist who serves on the Council, led the drafting process. The Internet Ethics document highlighted the enormous power and opportunities of the technology, saying it could help bring together every person on the planet in a “world governed by justice, peace and love” (Ethics) “Today it doesn't take a great stretch of imagination for and...... middle of paper...... Internet compared to their elders, it is said that good parenting may require adults to improve their mastery of the Internet The fundamental duty of parents in this case is to help children become selective and responsible Internet users and not dependent on the Internet, neglecting contact with their peers and with nature itself. Parents are recommended to install filtering technology in the computers available to them children "to protect them" as much as possible from pornography, sexual predators and other threats" (Church).WORKS CITED:The Church and the Internet http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/index.htm. Ethics on the Internethttp:// authors.va.mondosearch.com/cgi-bin/MsmFind.exe?CFGNAME=MssFind.cfg&QUERY=ethics+in+internet&EN=X&FR=X&DE=X&IT=X&PT=X&ES=X&NO_DL=X