Rampant porn use causing ‘toxic lack of masculinity,’ Catholic speaker warns

While society often claims that masculinity is to blame for the issues plaguing culture, Evert says the problem is effeminacy, again because of porn.

“Pornography to me is the No. 1 factor that’s emasculating males,” Evert said. 

“It’s effeminacy, and what I mean by that is not femininity, I don’t mean homosexuality,” he emphasized. Rather, as St. Thomas Aquinas defined the term, effeminacy means “when a man refuses to let go of what is pleasurable in order to do what is arduous and difficult,” Evert said.

“It’s an inordinate attachment to the pleasures that weakens your self-will, and so that makes a man effeminate,” he said.

“A lot of healing is needed,” Evert said, “because these boys and young men might look 28 years old outside, but that guy has been hooked on porn since he’s 12, and emotionally and spiritually he’s still 12. This is not a grown man. This is someone who has been effeminized by porn because he can’t say no to the pleasures that are offered to him, because he doesn’t have the strength to do what’s difficult.”

The porn industry, which the New York Times said generated $15 billion in revenue last year, represents a serious threat to the Catholic Church as well, Evert stressed.

“It’s really hamstringing a lot of people from discovering their vocation to the priesthood or married life,” Evert explained.

Porn addiction has become so prevalent among young people, Evert said, that many young men “have no clue” how to interact with girls and women “without looking at her through these lenses of pure lust.”

“He doesn’t realize how much scar tissue has accrued on his own heart in the way that he relates to female human beings,” Evert said.

In a culture inundated by internet porn and rampant pornography addiction, Evert’s message to young people is “your sexuality has value because of you; you are the gift.” Through his work with the Chastity Project, he has reached more than 2 million students, offering talks, books, and online resources to help young people discover the freedom of chastity.

Peter Pinedo is a DC Correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.