Pope Francis praised the virtues of sex in a documentary released on Wednesday, calling it “one of the beautiful things that God has given to the human person.”

The 86-year-old made the comment in a Disney+ show called The Pope Answers, which features a meeting that he had with 10 people in their early 20s in 2022.

He was quizzed by them on a variety of topics, including LGBT rights, abortion, pornography, sex, and faith and sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

“Sex is one of the beautiful things that God has given to the human person,” he said.

“To express yourself sexually is a richness. So anything that detracts from real sexual expression lessens you and depletes this richness,” he said, in a reference to masturbation.

The Pope was also asked whether he knew what a “non-binary person” is, and he replied affirmatively. He repeated that LGBT people must be welcomed by the Catholic Church.

“All persons are the children of God, all persons. God does not reject anybody, God is a father. And I have no right to expel anyone from the Church,” he said.

On abortion, Pope Francis said priests should be “merciful” towards women who have terminated a pregnancy, but said the practice remains unacceptable.

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“It good to call things by their name. It is one thing to accompany the person who had one [abortion], quite another to justify the act,” he said.

The pope’s remarks were published by L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, which described his conversation with the young people as an “open and sincere dialogue”.

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