Pope Francis Says Pleasures of Eating Food and Sex Are 'Simply Divine' and 'Come from God'

Pope Francis recently said that the pleasures of eating food and sex are divine and that they "come from god" in an interview and it is now going viral. The religious Catholic leader said in a conversation published in a new book by writer Carlo Petrini that the "overzealous morality" of the church has caused harm. These statements are grabbing headlines. Pope Francis further said, "The pleasure of eating is there to keep you healthy by eating, just like sexual pleasure is there to make love more beautiful and guarantee the perpetuation of the species".

He continued to talk about the pleasures of eating food and having sex and called it "simply divine".  He said, "Pleasure arrives directly from God, it is neither Catholic, nor Christian, nor anything else, it is simply divine".  He went ahead to say, "The Church has condemned inhuman, brutish, vulgar pleasure, but has on the other hand always accepted human, simple, moral pleasure."

Pope Francis filterlessly said that sex and the joy of eating a well-cooked meal victim of the church's "overzealousness morality" in the past. He further says that he sees it as "a wrong interpretation of the Christian message." "The pleasure of eating is there to keep you healthy by eating, just like sexual pleasure is there to make love more beautiful and guarantee the perpetuation of the species," Francis said.

The views in the past that have condemned all sex and pleasure "have caused enormous harm, which can still be felt strongly today", the pope said. Pope Francis recently had sent a 250,000-euro (about 2,20,53,750 INR) donation to the Church of Lebanon to help in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion. The Vatican described that donation as “initial aid” that is intended as a sign of the pontiff's “fatherly closeness to people in serious difficulty.” The aid has been sent through the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Beirut.

A few months ago, Pope Francis also called for migrant farmworkers to be treated with dignity, issuing an appeal as Italy weighs whether to legalize undocumented agricultural workers amid a shortage of seasonal farm labour due to the coronavirus emergency. Francis said he had been struck by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on migrant farmworkers, who even before the pandemic lived hand-to-mouth with day jobs that paid 25 euro (USD 27).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 11, 2020 11:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).