Bishop Richard J. Malone was in familiar territory Friday as he appeared on CatholicTV's "This is the Day" to discuss his concern about the growing problem of online pornography.

"Pornography is really reaching epidemic proportions," Bishop Malone told Kevin Nelson of "This is the Day." "As it becomes more pervasive, it becomes more and more debased. It's spreading like wildfire."

The bishop noted that with the rise of online and social media, access to pornography has never been easier. Addiction to pornography can impact marital trust and intimacy, and has been cited as a major cause of divorce. In addition, Bishop Malone worries about how younger children are beginning to view porn over the Internet.

"It's very easy for people to get into pornography, and we know that 'easily' can become an addiction," he said. "Somehow humanity is reduced when you become captive to an addiction."

The interview came as part of Bishop Malone's work as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. The committee is currently working on a pastoral statement about pornography that is expected to be finalized next year. Bishop Malone said the statement would also offer the Church's means of hope and healing from porn addiction through Catholic methods, such as the sacraments and prayers.

"Although the bishops of the U.S. have named this challenge in various ways over the years, we've never actually done a formal statement on the problem of pornography," he said. "Really, with all the accessibility of pornography on the web, we just thought it was time for us to make a formal statement to raise consciousness."

Bishop Malone's appearance on CatholicTV marked a bit of a homecoming for the Boston native. The television arm of the Archdiocese of Boston, CatholicTV began as a regional religious television network and has now expanded to a national platform, with a live stream of the channel available on their website. When Bishop Malone lived in Boston, he produced and hosted some programming for CatholicTV.

"I have such fond memories of my time in Boston," the bishop told Nelson. "You always made it a very easy, fun experience to do work with you folks."

CatholicTV's "This is the Day" will be rebroadcast Friday, 7:30 p.m. You can see the entire Bishop Malone interview below: