Paris: Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, on Wednesday warned priests and nuns about the dangers of watching pornography online, saying it “weakens the priestly heart”.

The Pope, 86, was responding to a question about how digital and social media should be best used, at a session in the Vatican, BBC reported.

The Pope, 86, was responding to a question about how digital and social media should be best used, at a session in the Vatican, BBC reported.

As to how to navigate social media and the digital world, he said that they should be used but told them not to waste too much time on it, the BBC reported.

“The pure heart, the one that Jesus receives every day, cannot receive this pornographic information,” he said. He advised the group to “delete this from your phone, so you will not have temptation in hand”.

“Each of you think if you’ve had the experience or had the temptation of digital pornography. It’s a vice that so many people have, so many laymen, so many lay women, and even priests and nuns,” Francis added.

“And I’m not just talking about criminal pornography like child abuse, where you see live cases of abuse – that’s already degeneracy – but of the more ‘normal’ pornography,” he added.

Church teaching sees pornography as an offence against chastity.