'Sex is a gift from God' – Pope amid fury of church conservatives

What the Pope said about sex/Getty Images

The Pope has been giving a series of catechetical instructions on the topic of vices and virtues. This time he was talking about sex.

At the same time, before this, conservative Catholics criticized Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez. Again, this happened because of the issue of sexuality.

What the Pope said about sex

The Pope said that sexual pleasure is a “gift of God” that should be “tolerated.” In addition, he warned against viewing pornography.

Satisfaction without a relationship can lead to addiction, the pontiff also said.

He also added that we must defend love, and winning the battle with voluptuousness can be the work of a lifetime.

Conservative Catholics criticized the cardinal

He made these statements after conservative Catholics criticized Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, who is the prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The BBC wrote that the criticism of the latter was related to his book “Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality”, published in 1998. It describes the difference between male and female orgasm.

The cardinal, speaking to the Catholic online publication Crux, said that he wrote the book when he was still young and “certainly would not have done ” of this now.

However, this has not stopped conservative commentators from calling the book “perverted”, with one even saying that it shows that Cardinal Fernandez is unfit for office.

As for the Pope's words, there was no suggestion that he spoke about sex precisely because of Fernandez's criticism.

In addition to the above, the Pope stated that:

• voluptuousness “destroys relationships”,
• “daily news is enough to document this reality”;
• “How many relationships that started well have subsequently turned toxic?”.

Vatican will allow same-sex couples to be blessed

• В In December 2023, Pope Francis approved the right to the pastoral meaning of blessings. This means that the Catholic Church can bless those who “do not live according to the standards of Christian moral doctrine, but humbly ask to be blessed.”
• However, the blessing will not be performed at the same time as civil wedding sacraments, but can be obtained during a visit to a shrine, a meeting with a priest, prayer.
• With this act, the Vatican wants to protect its priests from a possible scandal if they accidentally recognize an LGBT union as a marriage . After all, it is said that LGBT couples are blessed because they do not have the right to marriage due to the fact that the church considers it a relationship only between a man and a woman.
• It should be noted that the text on the pastoral meaning of the blessings was presented by Cardinal Fernandez, and then approved by the Pope. Even then they were criticized by conservative members of the Catholic community.