Pope Francis spoke about the beauty and dangers of love and sexuality at Wednesday’s general audience, he drew attention to the destructive effect of pornography, which negatively affects relationships between people even in our time.
Pope Francis stated that “sexual pleasure, which is a gift from God, is undermined by pornography: gratification without a relationship, which can create addiction. We must protect the love, the love of the heart, the mind, the body, the pure love with which we give ourselves as a gift to the other. That’s the beauty of sex.” He added that in pornography, they treat the other person as an object.
The Pope announced a fight against the fornication of pornography. He said that the love between a man and a woman was not designed by God to exploit each other but to love each other. He noted that if we believe in love, then we know that it is better to build a common story than to hunt for adventures, it is better to nurture tenderness than to succumb to the devil of possession of the other.
There are many Don Giovannis! – said the head of the church. He believed that life without love and affection is sad and lonely.
The Pope acknowledged that sexuality has a “strong voice” in the list of human pleasures. It captures all the senses, and that is very beautiful, but if patience is not disciplined, if it is not about the relationship of two people, the dance of love, then it becomes a shackle that deprives a person of his freedom, he explained.
As usual, during Wednesday’s audience, the Pope touched on one of the topics of Christian teaching, which was now the sin of fornication. Several young couples were present in the audience room. Pope Francis stressed that Christian teaching does not condemn sexual desire. He said the biblical Song of Songs is a beautiful poem about two lovers.
Falling in love is “one of the most surprising things in existence,” and no one can say why it happens, he said. The Pope added that some of the songs heard on the radio are about love that brings brilliance, love that is sought and never achieved, and love that torments with joy or tears.
“If it doesn’t come from sin, love is one of the purest emotions”
– said the Pope, emphasizing that a loving person turns completely towards the other person and does not only think about himself. He believed that it is also okay if the lover becomes naive, idealizes the object of his love, and makes promises whose weight he does not immediately perceive.
Love and sexuality are part of the human dimension, but they contain dangers, love can be distorted by fornication, which is why some people experience their sexuality in an “unhealthy” way.
According to Pope Francis, fornication destroys the relationship between people. He cited the daily news, which talks about toxic relationships, possessing the other’s body, “instant consumption”, prioritizing personal needs and pleasures over listening to the other. A person driven by the desire for fornication finds courtship boring and does not seek a wise harmony between reason, desire and emotion, the harlot does not understand that the path of love must be walked slowly and patiently.
Pope Francis made a distinction between virginity, abstinence and abstinence from sexuality, stating that the former is stronger than the latter.
(MTI)
