4 Experts Offer Advice on How to Conquer Porn Addiction

In 2015, the U.S. Catholic bishops approved Create in Me a Clean Heart: a Pastoral Response to Pornography, a statement discussing Church teaching on human sexuality and chastity, why production and use of pornography is always sinful, porn’s disastrous effects on individuals and society as a whole and
suggests a pathway for those addicted to pornography who wish to break the addiction. The bishops wanted to address the issue, they said, because “In our duty as pastors and shepherds to proclaim Christ, we must state clearly that all pornography is immoral and harmful and using pornography may lead to other sins, and possibly, even crimes.”

Highlights of the statement include:

• The bishops declare that pornography is a sin against chastity, so “such [sexual] intimacy should not be put on display or be watched by any other person, even if that person is one’s own spouse. Nor should the human body be unveiled or treated in a way that objectifies it sexually and reduces it to an erotic stimulant.”
• Regular porn use can destroy a person’s ability to have healthy relationships and successful marriages. Porn is connected to “adultery, domestic violence, the abuse of children in child pornography, and sex trafficking. It also can be implicated in contraception use and abortion, given that it promotes and even celebrates promiscuity and a view of sexuality devoid of love or openness to new life.”
• “Pornography use within marriage severely damages the spouses’ trust and intimacy both because of the pornography use itself and because of the deception and lies usually involved in one spouse hiding his or her behavior from the other. It has been identified by divorce lawyers as a major factor in over half of divorces.”
• Porn users can find themselves “trapped in a cycle of fantasy, ritual, acting out and despair.” However, the Church is a “field hospital,” and has much to offer to help. These include spiritual tools such as prayer and the sacraments; the bishops also encourage individuals to seek “ongoing support such as counseling, spiritual direction, coaching, accountability groups, couple to couple groups, conferences, and retreats for men and women.”

Some Catholics have made an apostolate out of combating pornography and have tried to help those free themselves from the addiction; here are some comments they offered.