‘The View’ Becomes Unruly Over Sex in the Catholic Church: “It’s Not Natural to Repress That!”

It’s always a good time when The View‘s hot topics become hot topics, and today was one of those days. The ladies gathered around the table today to discuss Pope Francis’ recent statement about sex as a less serious sin, ready to express their own opinions about sex out of marriage, during priesthood, and more.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg began the spirited discussion, bracing herself for the array of Catholic-themed humor that was about to come her way.

“Pope Francis raised everybody’s eyebrows by declaring that sex outside marriage is ‘not the most serious sin,’ which, you know!” Goldberg quipped. “And everybody was like, ‘Wait, what?’ Because he’s the spiritual leader of the church and everything.”

Fill-in host Ana Navarro wasted no time turning to humor in light of the news.

“All I gotta say is thank god! Because maybe I won’t burn in hell,” she joked.

Joy Behar focused less on the sinful side of the matter, instead praising the Pope for his new spin on religion.

“I like this Pope so much, I wish he would co-host here on Fridays. I really do like him. Is he vaccinated? Yes, he is, of course,” Behar chimed in, ready to welcome him on his next visit to New York. “But as someone who was raised Catholic, the horse is out of the barn. It’s been out for quite awhile now. Get with the program! Nobody waits to be married anymore to have sex. I mean, c’mon.”

Navarro wasn’t finished, launching back into the conversation to argue that he’s probably already had, uh, experiences.

“Also remember, he’s been in the priesthood since 1969 in Argentina,” Navarro said “This Pope has seen things! If we got rid of every priest who’s had sex outside of the priesthood, my poodle would be left giving the homily.”

“It’s not natural to repress that! It’s, it’s—” Sara Haines entered the discourse, unable to continue her point as her laughter spiraled out of control.

“I think we’re reading a little too much into what he said,” Sunny Hostin, ever the voice of reason, said. “What he said was that sins of the flesh aren’t that serious. The context is that there was a French archbishop who resigned because he was having some sort of relationship with a woman—”

“Sexual!” Haines interjected. “Sinful flesh relationship.”

“Well, he denied adultery, but he said that it was one of small caresses, a massage. It was a massage.”

Behar was tired of beating around the bush: “That’s close to sex! Foreplay,” she reasoned.

“The Pope said there was a sin, but not the worst kind,” Hostin continued. At this point, the hosts spiraled out of control — while Behar theorized that the woman could’ve been married, Navarro was just thankful that the affair wasn’t with “a little boy.”

And on that note, Goldberg shut down all the sex talk by sending the show to commercial break. Sheesh!

The View airs weekdays on ABC at 11/10c.

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