Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 7)— Using dating applications to meet a potential partner is “normal,” while church teachings on sex remain in the early stages, Pope Francis said in a new documentary released this week.
In “The Pope: Answers,” the pontiff engaged in a question-and-answer dialogue with ten young people from around the world, where he was quizzed on a range of societal topics like sex, pornography, and the LGBTQIA+ community, among others. “Sex is one of the beautiful things God gave human beings,” the Pope told his audience. “To express oneself sexually is something rich,” he added. “Sex has a dynamic of its own. It exists for a reason. It’s an expression of love.” The Pope, however, also admitted that catechism on the topic “is still at a very early stage.” “I think we Christians haven’t always had a mature catechism regarding sex,” he noted. Pressed about the use of mobile dating applications such as Tinder, the Pope maintained that it’s “fine” for people to meet with one another. He also praised young people’s “eagerness” to embark on such journey. “One of the things I admire about young people is the absence of borders, and I mean it in a good way. You have family borders, country borders, maybe religious borders. But, as humans, you go further,” the Pope added. In the course of the 80-minute film, the church leader was also asked: Do people who identify as part of the LGBT community have a space in the Catholic church? The Pope replied in the affirmative, saying that everyone remains a child of God. “My duty is to always welcome. The Church cannot close its doors on anybody,” he said. Other issues the Pope tackled in the documentary include abortion, racism, depression, and reports of abuse in the Catholic church.
