A scourge. A plague. A crisis.

God is with you in times of difficulty

“Pornography, though not new, is a particularly dark “sign” of the modern world, one that harms countless men, women, children, marriages, and families.” – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2015).

Call it whatever you’d like. A scourge. A plague. A crisis. A distortion of the human person. Or, as you will hear in the homily this weekend, a sin. Pornography has become a pervasive problem which deserves attention and dialogue among all people, especially Christians.

In the January 18, 2024 edition of the Superior Catholic Herald, the Diocese of Superior’s associate director of the Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship Loree Nauertz shared several relevant statistics which highlight the impact that pornography has on our culture.

“Statistically, nearly 80 percent of men ages 18-30 view pornography monthly, and 63 percent admitted to viewing pornography more than once a week. The numbers were lower for women – 34 percent and 19 percent, respectively – and according to the American College of Pediatricians, data is similar for younger age groups.

Exposure comes young… One English study found one-third of surveyed teens had seen porn by age 10, and an American study found half of boys and one-third of girls had been exposed by age 13.

According to Covenant Eyes, an online filtering service, more than 70 percent of teens hide their online behavior from their parents. There’s also widespread acceptance among the young; 90 percent of teens and 96 percent of young adults are either encouraging, accepting or neutral when they talk about porn with their friends.”

These statistics may feel overwhelming, especially for a parent, grandparent, or another adult hoping to protect the young from this destructive reality in our modern culture. Thankfully there are many helpful resources, like Covenant Eyes, that can be helpful with online safety but also with generating conversation among families and friends about this challenging topic.

Our God made us for relationship. Relationship with him and relationship with others. Relationships are lived in reality, not in fantasy. Relationships will flourish in honesty, truth, and compassion. In dedicating this weekend to starting a conversation about pornography in our parish and throughout our Diocese, we hope that rays of light can be shed on this issue which has lived in the dark shadows of our homes, communities, and our Church for far too long.

Though we may find ourselves like Christ in our Gospel passage this weekend among the presence of temptation and wild beasts in the desert, there are angels, saints and human messengers among us to minister to us and lead us from darkness into the light of Christ, whose kingdom never ends.