Pope Francis tells young people that sex is one of the beautiful gifts of God in a documentary to be broadcast on Disney+, the Osservatore Romano reported. But do his words hint at a new position on the subject of sex and relationships?
“Sex is one of the beautiful things that God has given to human beings,” the Pope is reported as saying during the documentary ‘Amen’.
Along with the affirmation about the beauty of sex come the Pope’s warnings about its boundaries and perils. “Sexual expression is a richness, so anything that belittles true sexual expression also belittles you, and impoverishes this richness in you,” he reportedly continued in reference to masturbation.
The wide-ranging conversation also reportedly touches on pornography. “Being addicted to pornography is like being addicted to a drug that keeps a person at a level that does not allow them to grow,” the Pope is reported as saying to a young woman who allegedly sells pornography online.
This is not the first time that Pope Francis, as the representative of the Catholic Church, has spoken about sex. In 2018 he told French young people that sex is a “great” gift from God, that it’s not a taboo, and should be lived as a lifelong, passionate love between man and woman.
Francis urged the group of young Catholics from the Grenoble diocese to protect their sexuality from pornography and other temptations that separate sex from love.
He acknowledged people “fall” and commit sin — but said “this isn’t the sexuality of love.”
Francis reiterated that sex has two aims: to show love, and create life. In taking what at first might be construed as a more permissive attitude towards sex, in fact the Pope is reaffirming the Church’s traditional position on masturbation, pornography and same-sex relationships.
