Millions upon millions of people are restricted to their home and have unrestricted access to high-speed internet. This dismal formula adds up to a spike in pornography usage. Yes, more people than ever are turning to porn, with the complicity of many X-rated websites, which are taking the public health safety precautions as an opportunity to increase their users. There is even new COVID-19-themed porn. It seems some of the offerings include people wearing surgical masks or making other references to the pandemic.

A psychological explanation for the current rise in pornographic usage focuses on the “eroticization of fear”: that is, when individuals take strong emotions like fear and mistake them for or convert them into sexual arousal. It can have very detrimental effects because a person in the grip of strong emotions is not thinking clearly. We should be aware of this phenomenon in order to stand firm against it. There is a real danger of getting sucked into destructive fantasies like porn when one is bored and scared at the same time.

What are some ways we can resist? The Sacrament of Reconciliation is definitely part of the answer. Going to confession with a priest sets us back on the path to Heaven and cleanses the soul. It is difficult to break the hold of porn, however—so difficult that confession alone rarely succeeds. I have heard porn addiction compared to cocaine addiction, with the caveat that drugs are less habit-forming. The Sacrament of Reconciliation showers us with the supernatural graces that we need to seek additional help. It may, of course, be difficult to access the sacrament these days because confession must take place in person.

The wisdom of Pope St. John Paul II and his Theology of the Body can help us. He offered the insight that part of the tragedy of pornography is not that it shows too much but rather than it shows too little of the human person, a horribly distorted view. The intimate love between spouses is precious and holy, and it strengthens marriages. Our deepest experiences should not be exposed or put on display. Pornography’s cheap thrills and abuse of people as mere objects of pleasure to be used and thrown away offer a terrible caricature of love. This distorted view is warping the minds of many young people about sexuality.

Some online resources to provide concrete help and understanding of the problem can be very helpful, especially for Catholics:

• Integrity Restored

• Reclaim God’s Plan for Sexual Health

What makes sin attractive when evil is so ugly? This is a perennial question. Fantasy or fiction can in fact glamorize what we know to be wrong. The same action that seems alluring in dreams or fantasies reveals itself to be squalid in the objective light of reality. In our Judeo-Christian worldview as well as the Islamic worldview, Satan the adversary applies angelic intelligence to find ways to tempt us to turn away from God’s Will.

I strongly recommend learning and reciting often the powerful short Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel composed by Pope Leo XIII. Many parishes have returned to reciting this prayer for angelic and divine assistance against Satan and the other evil spirits after the concluding prayers of Catholic Masses. Fighting the temptation of pornography is a spiritual struggle. Some have to struggle with it as an addiction, but all should see the demonic nature of perverting the beauty of pure sexuality and pandering to voyeuristic sexual impulses.

It is my fervent prayer during this pandemic that our Risen Lord will keep you and your loved ones safe from both physical and spiritual harm.

Copyright © 2020, The National Catholic Bioethics Center, Philadelphia, PA. All rights reserved.