Pope Francis condemns porn, advises to embrace physical intimacy: ‘Sexual pleasure is a gift from God’
The pope has spoken out about the importance of sexual pleasure and the dangers of pornography in a recent address to the faithful.
Pope Francis, 87, said that “sexual pleasure is a gift from God” and should be valued, but it is being corrupted by the influence of porn.
“We must defend love,” he said, according to The Guardian. “Winning against the battle of lust can be a lifelong undertaking.”
The pope, who was born in Argentina, said that porn can create addictive behaviours and lead to a “dangerous vice.”
He continued, “Lust plunders, it robs, it consumes in haste, it does not want to listen to the other but only to its own need and pleasure; lust judges every courtship a bore, it does not seek that synthesis between reason, drive and feeling that would help us to conduct existence wisely,” according to the Telegraph.
He also warned that lust can cause one to treat the other as an object and try to “possess” them.
Not the first time the pope has addressed the issue of porn
In Oct. 2022, he confessed that he was aware of priests and nuns who watched porn and cautioned them and the laity that the “devil enters from there.”
He advised them, “If you can cancel it from your phone, then cancel it, then you won’t have temptation in your hand.”
The pope’s latest comments came after the revelation that Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, had authored a book in 1998 that detailed male and female orgasm.
The book, which is no longer in print, was criticized as “scandalous” by some conservative Catholics who called for his removal, the Telegraph reported.
The pope also defended the church’s recent decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples on Sunday.
He responded to the criticism and resistance from some priests who refused to follow the new rules, saying, “Sometimes decisions are not accepted, but in most cases when decisions are not accepted, it is because they are not understood.”