According to reports from the NY Times, Pope Francis has asked for forgiveness for all Christians who buy sex from women, likening men who frequent prostitutes to criminals with a ‘sick mentality’ who think that women exist only to be exploited.
“This isn’t making love. This is torturing a woman. Let’s not confuse the terms,” the pope insisted as he made comments during an intimate, four-hour-long listening session with 300 young people who were invited by the Vatican to sensitize church leaders about what kids these days think about the Catholic Church.
The Pope had urged the delegates to speak with courage, without shame or “anesthesia” to dull the truth and insisted that young people must be taken seriously. His frank comments came in the form of a question and answer session with the young people from around the world present at the four-hour-long session.
This was a preparatory meeting for a big synod of bishops in October on helping young people find their vocations in life. Francis has insisted that young adults — Catholic or not should be integral in the process informing the otherwise all-male, celibate and rather old church hierarchy about the future of the church.
Nicholas Lopez, a college campus minister from Texas, made it known to the Pope that young people today face racism, poverty and gang violence, as well as “unjust immigration laws that threaten to split children from families.”
Angela Markas from Australia told Francis that young people today want a debate in the church about sexuality, same-sex attraction and the role of women.
Meanwhile Blessing Okoedion, who was forced into prostitution but escaped, asked Pope Francis how the church could allow Catholics to be clients for the many Nigerian women in Italy who – like her – were victims of human trafficking and forced to be sex slaves by the traffickers who got them here. She went further to say, “I ask myself, and I ask you: Is the male chauvinistic church able to truthfully ask itself about this high demand by clients?”
Pope Francis, who has made the fight against human trafficking and modern-day sex slaves a priority of his pontificate ever since taking office, urged young people to take up the fight against trafficking and forced prostitution.
“This is one of the battles that I ask you young people to do, for the dignity of women. Prostitution was born of a “sick mentality” that no form of feminism has managed to rid from society, one that thinks that “women are to be exploited.” the Pontiff said.
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Francis said that in Italy it was likely that some 90% of male clients of prostitutes are baptized Catholics. He added: ‘I would like to take advantage of this moment to ask forgiveness from you (exploited women) and society for all the Catholics who carry out this criminal act.’
The Pope concluded, “I want to take advantage of this moment, because you talked about baptized and Christians, to ask your forgiveness, from society and all the Catholics who do this criminal act.” – Speaking to Okoedion, who was forced into prostitution but escaped.
