Pope Francis criticizes pornography; can become 'addiction', says

The Pope reflected on lust and stated that in Christianity "there is no condemnation of the sexual instinct"

OSWALDO ROJAS | 01-17-2024 El Excelsior Newspaper

The Pope has defended that "sexual pleasure" is "a gift from God" but has lamented that "it is undermined by pornography" that imposes a narrative of "objectification" of the other.

During the recent catechesis, the Pontiff reflected on lust and stated that in Christianity "there is no condemnation of the sexual instinct", after remembering that a book of the Bible, the Song of Songs, "is a wonderful poem of love between two boyfriends." However, he has warned that this "beautiful dimension" of humanity "is not without dangers."

Thus, he lamented "sexual satisfaction" without a relationship can generate "forms of addiction." For this reason, he has assured that the sin of lust "devastates relationships between people."

How many relationships that started out in the best way have later become toxic relationships, possessive of the other, lacking respect and a sense of limits? "They are loves in which chastity has been lacking," he asked.

In any case, the Pontiff has differentiated chastity from sexual abstinence. "Chastity is more than sexual abstinence because it is based on the will to never possess another," he said. For the Pope, it is necessary to "win the battle against lust" and against "the "objectification" of the other" posed, for example, by pornography.

Along these lines, he defended that loving is "respecting others, seeking their happiness, cultivating empathy for their feelings and being willing to know a body." On the other hand, lust "deems all courtship boring, it does not seek that synthesis between reason, impulse and feeling."

"The lustful person only looks for shortcuts: he does not understand that the path of love must be traveled slowly, and this patience, far from being synonymous with boredom, allows us to make our love relationships happy," he concluded.