Pope Francis has praised abstinence before marriage as a sign of ‘true love’.
Look, there are many signs of love: flowers, chocolates, providing someone with your Netflix password.
But the head of the Catholic Church insists that refusing to have sex until you’re hitched is the ideal way to secure your soul mate.
In the new Vantician guide, the Pope outlined rules for a happy, successful relationship. He told couples to resist hanky panky before wedlock, according to the Daily Mail.
In one part of the 97-page document, it reads: “It is worth helping young spouses to be able to find the time to deepen their friendship and to accept God’s grace.
“Premarital chastity certainly favours this course.”
The Pope also claims that many couples nowadays inevitably ‘fall apart’ due to the sexual pressure at the beginning of relationships.
The religious leader added ‘the origin of many difficulties’ married couples face is ‘the hedonistic mentality that distorts the beauty and depth of human sexuality’.
He says it with more conviction than any other sexpert appearing on an Abbie Chatfield podcast.
However, this document has been criticised heavily, with many saying his theories are largely outdated.
The Express reports that Theologian Father Alberto Maggi told La Repubblica that documents of this kind are a ‘step backwards’ and urged the Pontiff to ‘listen more to the reality of young people today, of how they live, before reissuing the doctrine they have always proposed.’
Italian theologian Vito Mancuso also panned Pope Francis’ remarks for undermining the importance of sex in a relationship, saying, ‘To exclude it, as Catholic doctrine has always done, is a grave ethical error’, according to The Telegraph.
He added: “The Catholic Church’s inability to understand sexuality. In this, Pope Francis is no different from his predecessors.”
However, British expert on the Catholic Church Austen Ivereigh, defended the document, citing that they weren’t concrete laws but suggestions for couples seeking a successful marriage.
He said: “This is not a prohibition or a new rule. They are inviting people to follow this path.
“They know it goes against the grain of society. The Church understands that nowadays most people cohabit and have sex before getting married.”
Ivereigh continued: “The idea is for couples to have time to develop all the elements that are crucial for marriage such as patience and communication.”
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