The testimony of Pierre, former pornography addict

“And us sinners, we put our hope in your inexhaustible mercy.”

For me, this phrase illustrates the face of hope which is an attitude of trust in God, an attitude of trust in the mercy of God, a God who is love, tenderness and compassion. He didn’t come to call the just, but the sinners. For me, hope, is not leaning only on our own strength but counting on the mercy of God, to move forward, walking in his footsteps.

When sometimes we get frustrated, falling at the same sins, seeing our capacity to love is so small, we must entrust ourselves to God’s mercy, because I believe that’s what he’s waiting for us to do. That we might entrust ourselves to him, that we might ask his help to grow in love.

For me, hope is to walk the path, not just relying on our own strength but putting our hope in God’s mercy.

Sharing my experience with you, I give you my testimony:

I was in high school, I was a pornography addict and little by little, when I realised that everything I saw, the things I was watching, weren’t good for my heart, for my vision of things, or for my relationship with others, I wanted to stop. But in fact, I began to realise I was deeply anchored into an addiction and I wouldn’t be able to stop using only my own strength. One day, I decided to go to confession, to give everything to the Lord and that day, I truly experienced God’s mercy in my life.

I experienced this God who didn’t judge but rejoiced to see his son asking for help. That day, I really experienced a freedom and a deep joy. It wasn’t magic because things were deeply rooted in me and by the end of one month I had fallen again. But I had this experience of mercy and I chose to put my hope in this mercy. I chose to come back and go to confession again, to entrust myself to the Lord and rely even more heavily on his Love. As time went by, every time I presented myself to God, he came and broke more of my chains until one day they fell off completely.

Do you too want to receive help from heaven to get rid of this addiction? We are here to pray with you and ask Carlo Acutis for his intercession:

Going further:

• “It’s possible to stop using porn”
• Liberated from pornography by Carlo Acutis
• Pornography and masturbation, are they sinful?

Pornography and masturbation, are they sinful?

When someone asks whether something they’ve done is a sin or not, it means they’re already on a path, searching for truth. It’s even more important when the question concerns intimacy or our romantic choices. In life, it’s always important to ask questions and find answers to give sense to our acts. So, pornography and masturbation, are they sinful?

Symptom of suffering

The first thing we have to understand is that watching pornography or masturbating are often symptoms of something else the person is going through. Solitude, frustration, becoming discouraged, quickly lead people to emotionally compensate in ways which are of course insufficient and so create an addiction. There are also cases where we fall into certain ‘practices’ caused by a false vision of sexuality where people are considered only as objects for pleasure (including yourself).

On the ‘spiritual’ side of things

Spiritually speaking; pornography and masturbation are considered in the Bible and in Judaic-Christian tradition, as sinful, because their egocentric nature means they are purely focused on personal satisfaction. And this contradicts the human vocation: of being a gift for others. In pornography, the relationship between the persons taking part is not the fruit of reciprocal love, and the sexual intercourse is artificial and staged; in masturbation, there is absolutely no relationship between persons, and so, the other exists only as a product of imagination. For an act to be good, it must always be ordered towards the good of others and yourself. Sin is “an act or a thought which opposes Love”.

Pornography and masturbation, serious sins… or not?

The production of pornographic material is considered as a serious sin. However, sins of ‘impurity’ such as masturbation or looking at pornographic material can’t be judged as serious ‘at a first glance’; the emotional, psychological and spiritual state of the person must always be considered. To give an example, it’s very difficult for a teenager to manage their sexuality, they haven’t yet learnt about everything, and hormonal changes can reduce their freedom to choose. What is sure, no matter the situation, these sexual practices will always provoke emotional ‘disorder’ in us, which over time risks encouraging our narcissism.

How do I stop?

Every time we fall into masturbation or pornography, we’re damaging our capacity to love, so, in this case, it’s really important to make acts of altruism or generosity towards others. Charity is the best medicine for treating egoism. Of course, it can be very useful to talk about it with a priest, to confess our weaknesses and feel forgiven by God. In cases where the practice has taken root, it’s also good to talk about it with a specialist, to try and see exactly what it is that leads us to act in this way.

We’re here for you! Don’t hesitate to talk to us and ask us your questions:

Going further:

• Porn and masturbation, the same battle?
• Is porn true sexuality?
• What’s wrong with masturbation?