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What is the opinion of the Catholic Church
towards bisexuals and homosexuals?
Do you agree with it or disagree, and
is the Church tolerant of it?
Anonymous
{
What
is the opinion of the Church towards
bisexuals and homosexuals and do you agree with it? }
Mary
Ann replied:
Dear Anonymous,
We are not defined by our sexuality.
All human beings are good and worthy
of respect because they are human
persons made in the image and likeness
of God.
Sexuality is a gift of God that mirrors
His nature of Eternal Life-Giving
Communion. The Church's teaching
on sexuality may be found in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church,
which may be found and searched online.
Mary Ann
Paul
replied:
Hi, Anonymous —
The terms homosexuals and bisexuals
as nouns have little meaning when
it comes to natural law or human
nature itself. We are a species that
is sexual as male and female; ordered
to come together for the purposes
of true union and procreation. In
that sense, no human is a homosexual
or bisexual.
Church doctrine also has little to
say about feelings, affections, and
attractions that may be disordered
or that do not correspond to the
proper operation of our nature and
its purposes.
A sexual disorientation such as homosexuality or bisexuality may
have several root causes in individuals,
some of which might be uncovered
during examination or therapy.
What the Church is concerned about
is acts. Acts of the will and acts of
the body. Homosexual acts are wrong
on many levels. They contradict the
very purpose and meaning of human
sexuality:
a sexuality where, one flesh (reflected
by the conjugal act between a husband
and wife) potentially becomes three persons, reflecting the Trinity.
Using the body in a homosexual manner
is objectively abusive and can never
express true love nor give life.
Homosexual activity is morally wrong
and if performed with deliberate
and free consent (rather than compulsion) would constitute serious sin.
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.
Eric
John
replied:
Hi, Anonymous —
I just wish to address one point.
You said:
What is the opinion
of the Catholic Church towards
bisexuals and homosexuals?
Do you agree with
it or disagree, and is the Church
tolerant of it?
First of all, the Church doesn't
officially have an opinion about
anything. The Church has teachings.
When these teachings are in the area
of faith and morals, all Catholics
are bound to assent to and follow
them faithfully. So we can never
dissent from a Church teaching and
still remain in full Communion with
Holy Mother Church.
For example, the natural end of marriage
for centuries was said to be the
procreation and education of children.
While that is still true, the unitive
personal dimension of marriage has
been given much attention in the
past few decades to make the teaching
fuller and perhaps more complete;
and to this day, it is still being
developed.
You see Catholicism is not a buffet or cafeteria religion.
One is either Catholic or not Catholic.
So when it comes to Church Teaching:
One can't be 99% Catholic, just
like one can't be 99% pregnant.
It's a simple binary situation.
John
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