A recent survey in a leading academic journal found that 54 per cent of young Australian men and 14 per cent of young women view pornography at least once a week.
“The literature overwhelmingly suggests that people are being exposed to pornography from a young age,” the authors report.
This is a public health crisis, some experts say.
And it is also a spiritual crisis, according to New Zealand priest Fr Robert Steele.
He recently published a short book, A Journey of Hope: Combating Pornography on the Internet, to give people spiritual and practical strategies for escaping from addiction.
“What concerns me even more than the percentages is the age of first exposure. Many boys are encountering pornography at 9, 10, or 11 years old,” Fr Steele told The Catholic Weekly. “At that stage, their brains and moral frameworks are not remotely equipped to process what they are seeing.”
With so many young people in thrall to pornography, is the house burning down?
“Yes. I think that language is justified.,” he said. “From a public health perspective, pornography is now strongly linked to anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction, relational breakdown, distorted views of intimacy, and rising addiction patterns. Neurologically, it rewires reward circuits in ways strikingly similar to drugs.
“From a spiritual perspective, it is equally grave. Pornography trains the heart to consume rather than to love. It erodes the capacity for self-gift, fidelity, reverence for the body, and authentic intimacy. In that sense, yes, the house is burning down.”
Pornography affects commitment to the faith, as well.
“As for vocations and faith practice: I would not claim pornography is the only factor, but I am convinced it is a significant one,” he says. “When men live in chronic shame, secrecy, and compulsive sexual behaviour, it becomes far harder for them to imagine priesthood, marriage, or deep commitment to God.”
Fr Steele’s own backstory is a testament to the power of faith to change lives.
“I grew up in a fairly ordinary working-class environment, and like many men of my generation I drifted into patterns of addictive behaviour in my younger adult life,” he recalled. “Alcohol was my primary struggle, but beneath that were deeper issues: loneliness and unresolved wounds. For a long time I tried to manage life on my own terms, and it simply didn’t work.”
For a number of years he worked in the tourism and hospitality industry, eventually becoming a university lecturer in the field. But he wasn’t happy.
“My turning point came when I finally admitted I couldn’t fix myself. I entered recovery, embraced sobriety, and began a long, honest process of interior healing. That journey taught me humility, self-knowledge, and dependence on grace. I have now been sober for 25 years.”
As he slowly worked his way out of alcoholism, a long-dormant interest in the priesthood re-emerged. He was ordained in 2008 at the age of 57.
“I discovered that God had not wasted my brokenness. The experiences I once felt ashamed of became part of my pastoral calling. I re-entered the seminary later in life, by the grace of God, and was ordained a priest, carrying with me a deep compassion for people who struggle,” he explained. “My vocation is inseparable from my recovery. The priesthood is how God transformed my wounds into a source of service.”
Nowadays he is working as the parish priest of St Patrick’s Church, Pukekohe, a town in the Auckland region.
What is his game plan for fighting this ubiquitous temptation, when it is available on every mobile phone?
Breaking the cycle of pornography addiction takes place in three dimensions, says Fr Steele – neurological, emotional, and spiritual. He suggests a number of tactics, but over and over he insists that “lasting freedom is not simply a matter of willpower; it is a journey of grace.”
And the hydration stations in the long race to the finish line are the traditional practices of the Catholic Church – frequent Confession, the Eucharist, spiritual direction, fasting and acts of sacrifice, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
“Therapy, accountability software, support groups, and neuroscience-based interventions are genuinely helpful,” he says. “But without faith, something essential is missing – meaning, forgiveness, hope, and transcendence. Addiction is not just a behavioural problem. It is a relational and spiritual wound.”
For Catholics, the power of confession is often overlooked. But in Fr Steele’s view, it is a cornerstone of spiritual success because shame is the strongest of the shackles on people who can’t stop returning to pornography.
“Pornography addiction isolates people,” Fr Steele writes in A Journey of Hope. “Shame and fear of judgment often keep them from seeking help, creating a cycle of secrecy.”
“Confession is often misunderstood as a ritual of guilt, but in truth, it is one of the greatest sources of healing,” he explains. “Shame tells us to hide, but confession calls us out of the shadows into the light, where healing begins. For someone battling pornography, regular confession becomes an anchor.
“Frequent reception, weekly or every two weeks, helps build resilience, because each confession not only absolves sin but pours out sacramental grace, strengthening us to resist temptation. Many recovering addicts testify that confession is their ‘reset button,’ a safe place to start over without fear of judgment.”
Recovery can be a long and arduous journey. Even convinced Christians lose hope and stop praying. “They get to the point where they say, ‘why bother? Why bother praying about this? Because it’s just not going anywhere.”
“I always encourage my companions,” Fr Steele told The Catholic Weekly. “I tell them never to give up. Keep praying. Recovery is slow. Recurrence is common, unfortunately. But progress is slow but steady.”
If pornography is such a serious problem, why don’t people in the pews hear about it more often? Fr Steele says that priests aren’t indifferent, but they should speak up.
“Some worry about embarrassing parishioners, provoking backlash, or not having the right language. Others simply don’t feel trained to address sexual addiction.
“But the silence has a cost. When young people and parents never hear the church speak clearly, compassionately, and practically about chastity and pornography, they assume the church doesn’t understand their world. That is tragic.
“We need more preaching, more catechesis, and more pastoral honesty. Not in a moralistic or shaming way, but in a healing, hopeful, truth-telling way.”
Parents can’t afford to be naive about the allure of pornography for their children. Google searches or alluring pop-ups draw many children into dark corners of the internet. And there will always be peer pressure to explore forbidden territory.
Fr Steele has four words of advice for parents: “Be early, be honest.”
“Parents must assume their children will encounter pornography, not wonder if they might,” he says.” Conversations about bodies, sex, and internet safety need to begin far earlier than most parents think.
“They also need to create an environment where children are not terrified to tell the truth. If a child confesses exposure and receives anger or panic, they will learn to hide.
“Practical tools matter too: filters, accountability apps, device rules. But no filter replaces a strong relationship and open dialogue.”
As a companion volume to A Journey of Hope, Fr Steele has also published a modern parable, Michael’s Journey: A Novel of Struggle, Grace and Freedom. It relates the story a young man snared by pornography who gradually works his way free with the help of prayer and the counsel of an understanding priest. Parents and teenagers could find it useful.
For pornography addicts, is there a Matt Talbot, the saintly Irishman who is regarded as the patron saint of alcoholics?
Not yet, says Fr Steele, although St Carlo Acutis is revered for his “purity, Eucharistic devotion, and use of technology for good”.
But, he says, “I genuinely believe God is raising up modern witnesses who will one day be recognised as saints of this struggle. We are living in a new spiritual battlefield, and heaven always supplies new heroes.”