Victor R. Claveau, MJ
Answer: From the Catholic perspective, pornography is always gravely immoral. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as removing real or simulated sexual acts from the partners’ intimacy in order to display them deliberately to others. It: perverts the intimate self-giving proper to marriage; transforms human persons into objects of pleasure and profit; injures actors, producers, distributors, and viewers; encourages fantasy, lust, exploitation, and frequently addiction; can never be justified merely by consent or legality.
The Church therefore teaches that producing, distributing, or deliberately viewing pornography constitutes grave matter. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2354. Vatican text.