The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published an updated edition of "Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography" to mark the anniversary of the letter's initial publication.
The updated edition, which added "A Pastoral Response to Pornography" to the letter's title, was published on May 13, 2025, a USCCB representative told Aleteia.
"Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography" contains an updated preface before the introduction.
The new preface, which was authored by the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, reflects on how societal attitudes toward pornography have changed in the decade since the letter was first published.
"During the decade since the first publication of this pastoral response to pornography, opposition to this grave evil has weakened among the general population. The document was needed then, and it is still needed today," said the bishops.
Pornography, said the bishops, "gravely contradicts" the virtue of chastity, and the call for a person to love, and is a "serious threat to love in the life of the individual and in the community."
Wounds might lead to porn
A person may begin watching pornography, said the bishops, due to "deep personal wounds," including loneliness and social isolation.
These factors, said the bishops, have only increased in recent years due in part to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Social isolation was already a danger in an individualistic society like ours, but it has worsened due to the continued spread of social media and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic," said the letter.
Damaging mental health
The bishops continued, noting "studies have confirmed that isolation and increased exposure to mobile devices have severely damaged the mental health of consumers, especially young people."
Pornography, said the bishops, "makes the individual less free to relate to others in mutually loving and giving exchanges," and serves to "reinforce isolation."
"It can even close the individual off to reality and to God himself, who radically transcends our self selected bubbles," said the bishops. "The enemy of human happiness uses this isolation as an assault on the goal for which we were created: communion with God and community with each other."
The letter contains ways that various groups of people, including educators, parents, and clergy, can attempt to combat pornography use in age-appropriate ways. It is available online and through Ascension Press, said the USCCB's website.
