Homosexuality: The Church’s teaching
This week, a reader requests that we present the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. The issue is shrouded in much uncertainty and discord. We therefore quote in full the entry on the subject in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994):
“Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction towards persons of the same sex. It has taken a variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuinely affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
“The number of men and women who have a deep-seated homosexual tendency is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfil God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.
“Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.” (Paragraphs 2357-2359).
This is the teaching of the Church. It condemns the homosexual act forthrightly, describing it as “intrinsically disordered”, an echo of the Catechism’s censure of masturbation (2352). The Church has no authority to approve sex acts that are contrary to their purpose, that is the potential conception of new life within marriage.
At the same time, the Catechism acknowledges that homosexuals do not choose their orientation, whatever its causes (scientific research remains inconclusive). This is a common-sense proposition. Who would take a conscious decision to become a member of the most despised and marginalised category of people in any society?
Interestingly, the Catechism does not regard the “homosexual condition” as necessarily curable. Instead it calls on homosexuals to lead a chaste life, as many do.
The Catechism instructs the faithful to accept homosexuals with compassion and without unjust discrimination against them on grounds of their sexual orientation.
This is the essence of our Christianity: We may hate the sin (in as far as we know a sin has been committed), but have no mandate to hate the sinner.
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