Pope Francis , amid the ousting of a
French archbishop who allegedly broke the
Catholic Church’s celibacy rule, has said that sex
outside of marriage “is not the most serious sin.”
Per the Independent, the Pope held a question and
answer session with reporters on Monday and
was asked about the resignation of Michel
Aupetit, the Archbishop of Paris, who stepped
down this month after a French publication
alleged that he had engaged in a sexual affair
with an unnamed woman. In his role at the
church, Aupetit was expected to follow clerical
celibacy and abstain from sex.
“Sins of the flesh are not the most serious,” said
Pope Francis on Monday. Still, he accepted the
Archbishop’s offer of resignation, but maintained
that he did so to avoid further “gossip” around
Aupetit. “It was a failing on his part, a failing
against the sixth commandment, but not a total
one,” added the Pope. “We’re all sinners. When
the gossip grows and grows and removes
someone’s good name, he cannot govern. This is
an injustice. That’s why I accepted the
resignation of Aupetit: not on the altar of truth
but on the altar of hypocrisy.”
As the allegations against the Archbishop first
surfaced, he initially denied the affair. “I poorly
handled the situation with a person who was in
contact many times with me,” he said upon his
resignation. During the Q&A session, which was
held on a flight to Italy from Greece, Pope
Francis also cautioned the youth to be wary of
“the false needs of consumerism.”
“Today’s sirens want to charm you with
seductive and insistent messages that focus on
easy gains, the false needs of consumerism, the
cult of physical wellness, of entertainment at all
costs,” he explained. “All these are like
fireworks: they flare up for a moment, but then
turn to smoke in the air.”

https://www.complex.com/life/pope-francis-calls-sex-before-marriage-not-most-serious-sin