Pope hits out at nuns and priests who bash the Bishop
Even nuns and priests watch pornography, according to Pope Francis.
The Pope, 85, said online adult entertainment was a ‘vice’ even shared between members of the Catholic Church.
He said: ‘I will not say, “raise your hand if you have had at least one experience of this”.
‘But if each of you thinks you have had the experience or temptation … it is a vice that many people have, many laymen, many laywomen, and also priests and nuns.
‘The devil enters from there. And I’m not just talking about criminal pornography like that involving the abuse of children, that is already degeneration.
‘But pornography that is a little “normal”.’
The pontiff denounced digital porn during a convention with seminarians in Rome, Italy, on Monday.
He was asked about how a new generation of online clergy can use social media and other digital tools to ‘share the joy about being Christian’.
Francis urged the seminarians to use social media ‘to advance, to communicate” while warning them about the dangers, namely digital pornography’.
‘The pure heart, the one that Jesus receives every day, cannot receive this pornographic information,’ he said.
Francis urged the seminarians to ‘delete this from your phone so you will have temptation in hand’.
As much as he himself has 64.3 million Twitter followers, Francis said he does not use social media ‘because I arrived too late’.
He has a social media team to handle his accounts, Francis added.
The Catholic Church requires all clerics to remain celibate, meaning they cannot engage in sexual relations or marriage.
This is because priestly celibacy is seen by clerics as a way to remove themselves from worldly desires such as sex and devote themselves to the church.
Priests and nuns are prohibited from watching pornography as it is considered an ‘offence against chastity’ under article 2354 of the catechism, or the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
In late 2020, the Vatican was left tongue-tied after Francis’ official Instagram account showed he had liked a photograph of a Brazillian model.
The like on Natalia Garibotto’s Instagram page was visible for several days until Vatican officials removed it.
Garibotto joked at the time: ‘At least I’m going to Heaven.’
OY Co, Garibotto’s management company, said the model had received ‘the pope’s official blessing’.
A Vatican spokesperson said at the time: ‘We can exclude that the “like” came from the Holy See, and it has turned to Instagram for explanations.’
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