2024-01-19 08:57:06
3 hours ago
Laura Gozzi, BBC News
Image courtesy of Getty Images
Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, said in his regular homily at the Vatican on the 17th that sexual pleasure is a “gift from God” but “must be disciplined with patience.”
The pope also warned that pornography can lead to addiction by providing “gratification without relationships.”
In his homily, which focused on virtue and vice, the pope also addressed the “demon of lust.”
Last July, the Holy See selected Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A book published by the cardinal in the 1990s called “Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality” has been criticized by conservatives within the church.
The book, which is out of print, covered human sexual behavior and detailed what men and women experience during orgasm. Cardinal Fernández told the Catholic website Cruz that he wrote the book when he was young and that he would “never” write it now.
Church conservatives say the book is “immoral” and that Cardinal Fernández is unfit to lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which “seeks to promote and protect the integrity of the Catholic Church’s doctrine of faith and morals.” ing.
The Pope had already addressed the vice of gluttony in his homily on the 7th. There have been no indications that his criticism of Cardinal Fernández is related to his discussion of lust in his sermon on the 17th.
The Pope said that lust “destroys relationships between people” and that “this reality is well documented in the daily news”, adding that “relationships that begin in the best possible way turn into vicious ones”. There are countless examples,” he said in his sermon.
This is not the first time the Pope and Cardinal Fernández have drawn the ire of church conservatives.
Although Cardinal Fernández stressed that he did not approve of the status of same-sex couples within the Catholic Church, the damage was significant for many conservatives.
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who served as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under former Pope Benedict XVI, categorically condemned the document. He published a lengthy statement on the internet arguing once morest this, saying that for priests to bless same-sex relationships, they would be committing a “blasphemous and disrespectful act.”
Cardinal Muller argued that “according to the standards of this type of blessing, we might also bless abortion clinics and criminal organizations.”
Church leaders around the world issued statements condemning the decision, including American conservatives who oppose the Pope’s plan to reform the Catholic Church.
Tensions came to a head when the pope kicked American critic Cardinal Raymond Burke out of his Vatican residence and stripped him of his salary.
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