"The number of our Catholic clergy who struggle with this problem is very unsettling, and it has nothing to do with celibacy," the archbishop said, noting that Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis contend with the same issue. A 2000 survey by Christianity Today found that clergy and laity reported visiting sexually explicit websites at nearly the same rates.
"Pornography's always been a problem. Ancient Rome was famous for it. Sex is powerful and fascinating, and people have always abused its appeal. … It's an epidemic, or more accurately, a pandemic. Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can find all the (pornography) he or she wants," Archbishop Chaput noted.
But given the prevalence of pornography and its damaging effects, Olsen said, adults can no longer afford to avoid addressing this issue with the children in their lives.
"For many adults, the inclination is to not discuss it. In their opinion, it's hard, it's gross, it's I don't even want to go there, let's not focus on it. And although I totally and completely respect their intent and their desires, I have to respectfully come back and say we no longer have the luxury as a society, to sit idly by and watch things continue to progress in a very harmful and societally damaging way."
Pornography is also important for priests to address with their parishioners in order for them to feel comfortable enough to seek healing, Fr. Kilcawley said.
"It's just giving people permission to be wounded, which I think is what Pope Francis has been trying to do," Fr. Kilcawley said. "You have permission to be wounded, and so it's ok to come and tell your priest that you have this problem in your life. He's not going to run away from you, he's not going to scold you, he's not going to condemn you, he just wants to help you heal."
"The most shameful sins in our life, we need permission to talk about them," he said.
Finding solutions
Part of what Fr. Kilcawley does for his anti-pornography ministry is to talk to the parents of his first communicants at a retreat about motherhood and fatherhood within the context of the Church's teaching on the Theology of the Body. He also spends an hour on internet safety and sex education.
"Pastorally speaking, the best approach is to focus on prevention and focus on relationships within the family, evangelization within the family, and protecting kids from pornography, and the more we talk about it in that way, it's both bold and less threatening, and then it gives people the freedom to come to the Church to look for healing."
Once he started talking about the issue of pornography with families, Fr. Kilcawley had so many adults approach him about pornography addiction that he decided to form support groups as well. He now is in charge of a group for men addicted to pornography, as well as a group for women whose husbands are addicted to pornography.
Fr. Kilcawley said he also encourages people who are addicted to abstain from receiving the Eucharist unless they have gone to confession. Even though they may not be in a state of mortal sin due to the compulsive nature of the behavior, not being able to receive the Eucharist unless having gone to confession is an added incentive in the recovery process.
Fradd said talking to kids about pornography in an age-appropriate way is one of the best means to prevent future pornography use and addiction. And the younger parents start, the better, since some researchers estimate the average age of pornography exposure today is 8 years-old.
"I feel like we're guinea pigs, because parenting in the 8th century and the 13th and the 19th - it was relatively similar compared to parenting in the 21st century," Fradd said. "The internet really has changed everything."
Integrity Restored provides parents with free resources about the best ways to talk to their children about pornography. There's also a children's book called "Good Pictures Bad Pictures" by Kristen Jenson (available on Amazon), for broaching the subject with the youngest of audiences in an age appropriate way.
Integrity Restored also provides free resources to priests looking for the best ways to broach the subject with their congregations, and hosts symposiums in dioceses in order to educate priests, catechists and the general public on the issue.
Fradd also founded The Porn Effect, which is the youth outreach branch of Integrity Restored that educates youth and provides resources for them about pornography use and addiction. Another important aspect of prevention is internet filters and accountability systems, for which Fradd said he recommends Covenant Eyes.
Olsen said he thinks the best approach to combat a culture of pornography is three-tiered: prevention in children, research on the subject, and recovery therapy programs. Fight the New Drug has spent several years working with neuroscientists and psychologists to develop the Fortified Program, a free and anonymous online recovery program for youth. It currently has over 35,000 users in over 155 countries, and Olsen said he didn't even put "a penny into marketing or advertising."
"So the demand is enormous, there are many that are struggling," he said. "We get emails from 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds."
That the program is free and anonymous is key, Olsen said, because many of these children seeking help will stop once they see either a credit card or parental consent is required, "both of which are a Mount Everest that they are unwilling or unable to climb," he said.
"We have created a solution that they can jump into that will help them overcome that, so recovery is a big part of how we will heal society."
Fradd said that in many ways, the resources that the Church needs in order to better address this issue already exist - they just need to be utilized.
"We're all kind of playing catch up to honest," he said. "There are beautiful things happening, we just need to know about them."
This article originally ran on April 19, 2016.
Mary Farrow worked as a staff writer for Catholic News Agency until 2020. She has a degree in journalism and English education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.