Hi, Britney —

The Catholic Church doesn't have an opinion on it. It's not really within the scope of what the Church teaches, as it is a biological, not theological, or moral question.

If a person is born with a homosexual predisposition, it is not God's perfect will, rather, it is something allowed by God's permissive will. God's desire to allow free will and its consequences.

All kinds of things are hereditary; that doesn't mean they are OK. Diabetes is hereditary; alcoholism is hereditary.  That doesn't mean we think they are OK, or that we don't treat them.

From a scientific standpoint, recent studies have shown that a homosexual predisposition, in many instances, may be congenital, meaning related to a condition at birth, as opposed to being genetic or learned. At any rate, if this is true, these cases are birth defects and not (hereditary/genetic) issues.

Some Catholic research has shown that, with therapy:

• one third of those with same sex attraction (SSA) make excellent progress in eliminating their SSA
• another one third, though still struggling with it, are able to manage their SSA much better, and
• one third are not responsive to treatment.

Eric Ewanco and John DiMascio

Hi, Britney —

I wanted to throw my two cents in on this one.

Although Eric and John claim there are recent studies that have shown that a homosexual predisposition, in many instances, may be congenital, (as opposed to genetic or learned), I would tend to disagree with these studies and your doctor's opinion, wherever he got it from.

Due to the permissiveness of our American culture, especially through T.V., the news media, and the internet, I think it is safe to say that the majority of people with same sex attraction (SSA), have developed it through a permissive American culture, whether it is from school, social groups, society in general or parents who, in my opinion, have had poor Christian catechesis, (and/or) have never been taught basic Christian parental skills e.g. family prayer and proper discipline.

The local Jewish Rabbi, Christian minister and Catholic (pastor/priest) all have to take some blame as well. Our Blessed Lord talks about this specific topic very clearly in the Scriptures.

Most of the time, what everyone is scared to say is that SSA is a learned, permissive behavior.

If that bastard, satan, can get society to accept SSA as an acceptable norm, Christian marriage will be seen as an option rather than a necessity for a stable, prosperous, future society.

Mike Humphrey