Pope says youth need to know church does not stifle a couple's love

Published: 2006-06-06

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI said young people should understand that the church does not want to "suffocate" the joy of love between a man and a woman. The pope made the remarks at a June 5 Rome diocesan conference dedicated to the theme of religious education for younger Catholics. After praying with participants in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the pope told them that love must be at the heart of every generation's education in the faith. "Adolescents and young people, who feel inside themselves an urgent call to love, need to be liberated from the widespread prejudice that Christianity, with its commandments and prohibitions, places too many barriers to the joy of love," he said. He said the church does not seek to prevent couples from "tasting fully that happiness that a man and a woman find in mutual love."

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