Friday 18 October 2013

A Western approach.

This is an aerial view of Bunbury, a Cathedral See in Western Australia. The bishop of this Diocese, Mgr Gerard Holohan, has written a tremendous Pastoral Letter on the subject of internet pornography addiction. This letter, he says, is a response to the growing problem of pornography in his province of Australia.
The Letter is extensive in length so I won't paste it here; but it well worth opening this link in order to read it in full.
Addiction to internet pornography is endemic, not just in Western Australia but in the Western world, if not the whole world, yet it is rarely spoken of. Bishop Holohan's Letter then, is extraordinary in the way that it approaches this matter so publicly, so thoroughly, but above all, because it is such a wonderful proclamation of Christ.
The Letter begins by speaking about Jesus Christ as Saviour. It then speaks about the nature of addiction to pornography - once something that was little understood yet now something whose biological and chemical consequences are becoming well understood.
The Letter then returns to speak about the person of Christ, and how by entering into, or seeking to renew a relationship with Him, He is able to transform the woundedness of human personality and psychology.
This is a Letter which should be brought into our culture in a public and unself-conscious way, enabling the subject of internet pornography to come out from the shadows, and to be brought into contact with Christ - Saviour, Healer, the one who, uniquely, can transform human life, in all its interior division, and make a person whole.
God bless Bishop Holohan for his courageous and apostolic attitude in the face of this cultural tsunami. 

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