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Are homosexuals considered sinners? and
if so, Why?
What should someone who believes they
are homosexual do?
What does The Catholic Church say to
people who are born homosexual?
How should those who believe they are
homosexual be treated?
Thank you for your time.
I greatly appreciate your answer.
Hito
{
Are homosexuals sinners, and
if so, why; and how should they be treated according to the Church? }
Mary
Ann replied:
Hito —
Homosexuals are not considered sinners
unless they sin by knowingly and
willingly engage in sexual activity
outside of true marriage. Homosexuality
is a deep-seated disorder caused
by developmental difficulties. There
is no evidence, none, that homosexuals
are born that way, though some men
can be feminized by hormones in the
womb or in the environment. Feminized
characteristics are not the same
as homosexuality, however, but can
lead to a person to have peer difficulties
that help homosexuality to develop.
Many homosexuals are made so by being
groomed or molested by older homosexuals.
The homosexual should rely on God's
truth and grace to live as God calls
all to live, chastely and
in accord with God's plan for sexual
activity, which is heterosexual union
in marriage.
There is a Catholic
group for homosexuals, Courage and Encourage,
which helps in this effort. The Church teaches in the Catechism that homosexuals
should be treated with human dignity.
The following are quotations from
the Catholic Catechism.
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations
between men or between women who
experience an exclusive or predominant
sexual attraction toward persons
of the same sex. It has taken
a great 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, (cf. Genesis 19:1-29; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 1:10) tradition
has always declared that homosexual
acts are intrinsically disordered.(Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith, Persona humana 8) They are contrary to the natural
law. They close the sexual act
to the gift of life. They do not
proceed from a genuine affective
and sexual complementarity. Under
no circumstances can they be approved.
2358 The number of men and women
who have deep-seated homosexual
tendencies is not negligible.
This inclination, which is objectively
disordered, constitutes for most
of them 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 fulfill
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.
2359 Homosexual persons are called
to chastity. By the 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.
Mary Ann
Eric
replied:
Hi, Hito —
To add to my colleague's excellent
answer, the Church makes no statement
on whether homosexuality is genetic,
in-born, voluntary, or otherwise.
However, it should be noted that
other disordered behaviors, such
as alcoholism, have been shown to
be genetic. This fact however does
not justify destructive behavior.
Some people have a compulsion to
steal. While their guilt may be mitigated,
stealing is still wrong and they
must strive to avoid it. Therefore
even if it were proved beyond a shadow
of a doubt that homosexuality was
exclusively genetic (which is
extremely unlikely seeing that very few things
are exclusively genetic), that
does not prove that acting out on
the inclination is moral.
Eric
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