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Pope Francis: Sex is a beautiful thing that God gave to humans. PHOTO/Reuters
VATICAN – Pope Francis praise virtue six in a documentary released on Wednesday (5/4/2023). He described it as “one of the beautiful things God has given man”.
The 86-year-old pontiff made the comments in the Disney+ production “The Pope Answers”, which captures a meeting he had last year in Rome with 10 people in their early 20s.
Pope Francis was questioned by them on a variety of topics, including LGBT rights, abortion, the porn industry, sex, and sexual beliefs and abuse within the Catholic Church.
“Sex is one of the beautiful things that God gave to human beings,” he said in the documentary, as quoted by Reuters.
“Expressing yourself sexually is a wealth. So anything that diminishes actual sexual expression diminishes you and consumes this wealth,” he continued.
Francis was also asked if he knew what a “non-binary person” was, and he answered in the affirmative. He repeated that LGBT people should be welcomed by the Catholic Church.
“Everyone is God’s child, everyone. God does not reject anyone, God is a father. And I have no right to remove anyone from the Church,” he said.
On abortion, Francis said priests should be “compassionate” towards women who have aborted a pregnancy, but said the practice remained unacceptable.
“It’s good to call things by their names. It’s one thing to accompany people who have abortions, it’s another to justify the act,” said Francis.
The pope’s statement was published by L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, which described his conversations with young people as “open and sincere dialogue”.
(esn)