Pope Francis denounces pornography as demonic in general audience address
Caroline MolloyPope Francis denounced online pornography as the “language of the devil” in a September 25 general audience address, calling for Catholics to avoid Satan and his works through the grace and aid of God.
Pope Francis began his address by highlighting that Jesus can deliver people from Satan and that He casts out devils. Continuing, however, the pope noted that in present day, there is “a strange phenomenon regarding the devil.”
“At a certain cultural level, it is held that he [the devil] simply does not exist,” the Pope said, later adding:
And yet our technological and secularized world is teeming with magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of spells and amulets, and unfortunately with real satanic sects. Driven out the door, the devil has re-entered, one might say, through the window. Driven out of faith, he re-enters with superstition.
The Pope warned not to engage with the devil at all, and instead urged “distancing” oneself from the devil. Recalling a Church Father’s quote that after Christ’s victory on the cross, the devil has since been “bound, like a dog on a chain,” who cannot bite people unless they approach him.
Pope Francis said, “If you are a fool and you go to the devil and say, ‘Ah, how are you?’, and everything, it ruins you. The devil – distance. One does not converse with the devil. One banishes him. Distance.”