A vice so many have’: Pope admits nuns and priests not immune to porn
Francis urges use of social media to promote Christian message but says vice of pornography, even among clergy, allows devil to enter
Pope Francis
‘It is a vice that so many people have,’ says Pope Francis of digital pornography.
Angela Giuffrida in Rome
Wed 26 Oct 2022 12.20 EDT
Pope Francis has warned seminarians against the “devil” of digital pornography, while admitting that watching online porn is also a vice of priests and nuns.
The pontiff made the remarks during a convention with seminarians in Rome on Monday, in response to a question about how a new generation of clergy immersed in social media can use digital tools to “share the joy about being Christian, without forgetting our identity or being too exposed and arrogant”.
In the full text of the event, published by the Vatican on Wednesday, Francis urged the seminarians to use social media “to advance, to communicate” while warning them about the dangers, namely digital pornography.
“I will not say, ‘raise your hand if you have had at least one experience of this’,” the pope said. “But if each of you think you have had the experience or temptation … It is a vice that so many people have. So many laymen, so many laywomen, and also priests and nuns. The devil enters from there. And I’m not just talking about digital pornography like that of child abuse, this is already degeneracy. Dear brothers, pay attention to this.”
Despite having 64.3 million followers on Twitter, the pope, 85, said he did not use social media tools “because I arrived too late”. A team of people manage the pope’s various social media accounts.
In late 2020, the Vatican was left in an embarrassing predicament when it was forced to “seek explanations from Instagram” after Pope Francis’s official Instagram account liked a photo of a Brazilian model, Natalia Garibotto.
The “like” from the pope’s account was visible on the photo on Garibotto’s page for several days before being unliked. Nevertheless, Garibotto’s management company, COY Co, made the most of the publicity and reposted the image on its own Instagram account with a message saying that the company had “received the Pope’s official blessing”. Garibotto, who has over 3.3 million followers, joked: “At least I’m going to heaven.”
The Vatican said at the time that “we can exclude that the ‘like’ came from the Holy See”.
The pontiff made the remarks during a convention with seminarians in Rome on Monday, in response to a question about how a new generation of clergy immersed in social media can use digital tools to “share the joy about being Christian, without forgetting our identity or being too exposed and arrogant”.
In the full text of the event, published by the Vatican on Wednesday, Francis urged the seminarians to use social media “to advance, to communicate” while warning them about the dangers, namely digital pornography.
“I will not say, ‘raise your hand if you have had at least one experience of this’,” the pope said. “But if each of you think you have had the experience or temptation … It is a vice that so many people have. So many laymen, so many laywomen, and also priests and nuns. The devil enters from there. And I’m not just talking about digital pornography like that of child abuse, this is already degeneracy. Dear brothers, pay attention to this.”
Despite having 64.3 million followers on Twitter, the pope, 85, said he did not use social media tools “because I arrived too late”. A team of people manage the pope’s various social media accounts.
In late 2020, the Vatican was left in an embarrassing predicament when it was forced to “seek explanations from Instagram” after Pope Francis’s official Instagram account liked a photo of a Brazilian model, Natalia Garibotto.
The “like” from the pope’s account was visible on the photo on Garibotto’s page for several days before being unliked. Nevertheless, Garibotto’s management company, COY Co, made the most of the publicity and reposted the image on its own Instagram account with a message saying that the company had “received the Pope’s official blessing”. Garibotto, who has over 3.3 million followers, joked: “At least I’m going to heaven.”
The Vatican said at the time that “we can exclude that the ‘like’ came from the Holy See”.
[PADA: Porn is like any other addictive drug IMHO. It gives people some sort of apparent happiness and relief, but only for a short time. Then there is remorse, guilt, shame -- the same as with any other addictive drug. Never mind what happens when the wife inspects the computer search history log!
Of course there are those who say porn is creating an impetus for violence and crimes against women, and in some cases it may be what causes such events. Then again crack heads are famous for violence and such, so it is safe to say ANY addictive behaviors can lead to worse behaviors.
In general, Srila Prabhupada is correct, either we are either thinking of Krishna or we are thinking of maya. At the same time neophytes will waver around in between these realms and go back and forth, hopefully going forth more than back.
The main problem I see for ISKCON is that people who have mundane desires, even very lusty desires, includes porn addiction, or even pedophile lusty desires, are being advertised as gurus. By the principle of "you become what you worship" that will take other people backwards, they will adopt the degraded qualities of the degraded people they worship, and it has happened that way in many cases.
Some people eventually recognize that their guru is bogus and they switch over to focus on Srila Prabhupada, and that is good, but it should not be through a process of trial and error that they come to that stage.
Meanwhile this is actually a good admission. We have to admit the neophytes are prone to failure, and so we -- should not ever -- worship a neophyte. Yep I know, Bhagavad Gita says we should forgive the people who stumble on the path, and try to pick them up, dust them off and get them back on the road again.
OK fine. However, the people who fall off the road and into the ditch over and over -- are not gurus. That is what some devotees fail to understand. In sum, ISKCON needs to come clean and admit its clergy suffers from many of the same issues as clergy folks anywhere else, and make an honest platform for the ISKCON society.
Yes as a matter of fact, we should say our clergy are priests or ritviks and not messiahs. And moreover, some of them might be fallen into pornography, or worse, because priests are not on the absolute platform.
ys pd
angel108b@yahoo.com
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