What is the Church’s position on homosexuality?
Catechism Meditation:
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, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” 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. 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. ―Nos. 2357-2358
REFLECTION. Based on Catholic doctrine, homosexual acts are considered sinful, and individuals with same-sex attraction are called to chastity. The Church differentiates between the inclination, which is not inherently a sin, and the homosexual act, which is considered “intrinsically disordered”. The Bible offers guidance that the Church cannot ignore.
In the Old Testament, Leviticus is explicit: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination” (Lev 18:22). And in the New Testament, St. Paul, writing to the Christians in Corinth, leaves no room for ambiguity: “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitute nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9-10). Yet St. Paul continues with a firm message of hope: “That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11). This message is clear: God’s grace transforms and redeems.
We live in an age where laws and ideologies are promoted to legitimize homosexual practices as equivalent to Christian marriage. The Church, without imposing, firmly proclaims the truth of natural marriage: between a man and a woman, open to life. This is not intolerance―it is fidelity. As Pope Benedict XVI said: “It is not an act of discrimination to point out what is morally not in accordance with God’s order, but an act of love.” To love does not mean to approve everything. To love is to desire the other’s good, even if that good involves struggle, renunciation, and conversion.
Source: Catholic.eu (Truth And Charity: The Catholic Church’s Teaching On Homosexuality In The 21st Century)
PRAYER. Merciful Lord, for those who experience same-sex attraction, that they may be called to conversion, to chastity, and to holiness.
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“A popular God-is-dead book in the United States argues that homosexuality will become normal in humanistic society where there is no restriction of morals which come from religion. St. Paul declared homosexuality and atheism were related to one another as effect and cause.” ― Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen