While revealing his thoughts on intercourse, LGBT rights, and porn, Pope Francis called sex “one of the beautiful things that God has given to the human person.”

The 86-year-old pontiff made the remark in the Disney+ documentary ‘The Pope: Answers,’ which depicts him in a discussion with ten young people in Rome last year.

They grilled Francis on a wide range of issues, including LGBT rights, abortion, the porn business, sex, and faith and sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

‘Sex is one of the most wonderful things God has given to the human being,’ he added in the documentary.

‘It is a richness to express yourself sexually. So anything that takes away from genuine sexual expression diminishes you and depletes this richness,’ he explained, referring to masturbation.

In the film, ten young people from around the world meet with Pope Francis with the goal of “talking and conveying to him the main concerns of their generation.”

Francis was also asked whether he knew what a ‘non-binary person’ is, and he replied affirmatively.

He repeated that LGBT people must be welcomed by the Catholic Church.

‘All persons are the children of God, all persons. God does not reject anybody, God is a father. And I have no right to expel anyone from the Church,’ he said.

Regarding abortion, Francis stated that priests should be “merciful” to women who have aborted a pregnancy, but that the practice is still unacceptable.

‘It’s important to call things by their proper names. It’s one thing to accompany someone who has had an abortion; it’s quite another to rationalize the deed,’ he remarked.

The pope’s statements were published in the official Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, which described his chat with the young people as an “open and sincere dialogue.”

It comes after the Pope spent four days before Easter renewing vows and urged priests not to create division in the Church.

On Holy Thursday, Francis and dozens of cardinals and bishops, as well as 1,880 priests, met in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome to renew their ordination promises.

The Pope later travelled to the jail of Casal del Marmo on the outskirts of the city, where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 young inmates in a gesture meant to commemorate Jesus’ humility towards his apostles on the night before his death.