Devine...

 

The pleasures of a well-cooked meal or loving sexual intercourse are "divine" and have unjustly fallen victim to "overzealousness" on the part of the Church in the past, Pope Francis says in a book of interviews published.

"Pleasure arrives directly from God, it is neither Catholic, nor Christian, nor anything else, it is simply divine."

"The Church has condemned inhuman, brutish, vulgar pleasure, but has on the other hand always accepted human, simple, moral pleasure," he added.

Francis - said that there was no place for an "overzealous morality" that denies pleasure, something  existed in the Church in the past but insisted is "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," the pope said.

Opposing views "have caused enormous harm, which can still be felt strongly today in some cases," he added.
"The pleasure of eating and sexual pleasure come from God."

Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics around the world, singled out a 1987 Danish film called "Babette's Feast" as reflecting his message on pleasure.