Pope Francis has declared sex as “one of the beautiful things that God has given to the human person” in an open and honest new interview.
he 86-year-old pontiff made the comment as he debated LGBT rights, abortion, the porn industry, sex, and faith and sex abuse within the Catholic Church in the Disney+ documentary 'The Pope: Answers'.
In one scene the Pope is seen meeting with ten people in their early 20s last year in Rome where he is quizzed on his views regarding a variety of topics.
“Sex is one of the beautiful things that God has given to the human person,” he says in the documentary.
“To express yourself sexually is a richness. So anything that detracts from real sexual expression lessens you and depletes this richness,” he added, in a reference to masturbation.
The film focuses on the 10 young people from across the globe who meet the Pope with the aim of “talking and conveying to him the main concerns of their generation”.
Asked whether he knew what a ‘non-binary person' is, he replies that he does, while adding that LGBT people must be welcomed by the Catholic Church.
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“All persons are the children of God, all persons. God does not reject anybody, God is a father. And I have no right to expel anyone from the Church,” he says
Asked for his view on abortion, Francis says priests should be “merciful” towards women who have terminated a pregnancy, while adding that the practice remains unacceptable.
“It’s good to call things by their name. It is one thing to accompany the person who had one (abortion), quite another to justify the act,” he says.
The Pope's remarks were published by L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, which described his conversation with the young people as an “open and sincere dialogue”.
Appearing to have fully recovered from a bout of bronchitis which kept him in hospital for four days last week after complaining of breathing difficulties, the Pope has had a busy four days in the lead up to Easter.
On Holy Thursday, Francis and dozens of cardinals and bishops, and some 1,880 priests, gathered in St Peter's Basilica, Rome, to renew the commitments they made on their ordination.
The Pope then travelled to the jail of Casual del Marmo on the outskirts of the city, where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 young inmates in a gesture meant to commemorate Jesus' humility towards his apostles on the night before his death.