NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      BOGOTA (CWNews.com) - Catholic priests of the Colombian town of Belen de Umbria said this week that at least six youths identified as members of a satanic cult have committed suicide since early this year.

      The priests signed a collective letter asking authorities to investigate the deaths as well as the reason why 31 more teenagers -- friends of the six who died -- also attempted suicide but failed. None of the youths have come forward to explain the reasons for their attempts.

      Both the priests and local parents have related the deaths to the "strange Satanic cults" that the group began to celebrate at night at the local cemetery. "It all started as a dumb fashion, wearing black leather clothes and listening to heavy metal music," one of the parents said. In their letter, the priests insisted: "These suicides have been investigated independently, without looking for the connections that relate one to another. An investigation as one single, collective phenomenon has to be made."

      "These kind of situations do not appear spontaneously," the letter said. "So someone has to be held responsible for inducing our kids."