Homosexuality
The Truth, Love, and Compassion of Catholic Teaching
Is a Sin and Condemned in the Bible
Truth is Necessary
All Deserve Respect
Marriage is One Man and One Woman
Compassion is Necessary
Truth in Love
“The God who is at once truth and love calls the Church to minister to every man, woman and child with the pastoral solicitude of our compassionate Lord.”
The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith
“The Lord Jesus promised, ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free’ (Jn. 8:32).”
The Truth
“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…Under no circumstances can they be approved.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2357)
“The most perniciously typical aspect of the modern era consists in the absurd attempt to reconstruct a solid and fruitful temporal order divorced from God, who is, in fact, the only foundation on which it can endure.” (Mater et Magistra, 217)
“The Church’s doctrine regarding [homosexual behavior] is thus based…on the solid foundation of a constant Biblical testimony. The community of faith today, [is] in unbroken continuity with the Jewish and Christian communities within which the ancient Scriptures were written”. (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 6)
“When human beings set themselves against God, they set themselves against the truth of their own being and consequently do not become free, but alienated from themselves.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
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“Increasing numbers of people today, even within the Church, are bringing enormous pressure to bear on the Church to accept the homosexual condition as though it were not disordered and to condone homosexual activity. Those within the Church who argue in this…are guided by a vision opposed to the truth about the human person, which is fully disclosed in the mystery of Christ.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 8)
“God, in his infinite wisdom and love, brings into existence all of reality as a reflection of his goodness. He fashions mankind, male and female, in his own image and likeness. Human beings, therefore, are nothing less than the work of God himself; and in the complementarity of the sexes, they are called to reflect the inner unity of the Creator. They do this in a striking way in their cooperation with him in the transmission of life by a mutual donation of the self to the other.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 6)
“Against the background of this exposition of theocratic law, an eschatological perspective is developed by St. Paul when…he proposes the same doctrine and lists those who behave in a homosexual fashion among those who shall not enter the Kingdom of God.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 6)
“Providing a basic plan for understanding this entire discussion of homosexuality is the theology of creation we find in Genesis.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 6)
Life Without Truth
“[T]he systematic violation of the moral law…produces a kind of progressive darkening of the capacity to discern God’s living and saving presence”. (Evangelium Vitae, 21)
“When freedom, out of a desire to emancipate itself from all forms of tradition and authority, shuts out even the most obvious evidence of an objective and universal truth…a serious distortion of life in society” results. (Evangelium Vitae, 19-20)
“Separated from God a man is but a monster, in himself and toward others; for the right ordering of human society presupposes the right ordering of man’s conscience with God”. (Mater et Magistra, 215)
“When man does not recognize in himself and in others the value and grandeur of the human person, he effectively deprives himself of the possibility of benefiting from his humanity and of entering into that relationship of solidarity and communion with others for which God created him.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 41)
The Love
“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358) And, “There is no worse form of alienation than to feel uprooted, belonging to no one.” (Pope Francis, 53)
The Church’s teaching is not meant to curtail love but to enable it. For those troubled with their identity, patience is called for. When a person is on a path seeking wholeness, their search must be encouraged and respected – in friendship.
The Church points to the peace and life-giving path of Christ’s commandments. We owe it to God, our brothers and sisters and ourselves to offer what is true – and why we believe it is true.
“Although she constantly holds up the call to perfection and asks for a fuller response to God, ‘the Church must accompany with attention and care the weakest of her children, who show signs of a wounded and troubled love, by restoring in them hope and confidence'”. (Pope Francis, 291)
“The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority.” (CCC, 2273)
“It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice…Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church’s pastors wherever it occurs. It reveals a kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental principles of a healthy society. The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action and in law.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 10)
Modernity’s Loss of the Sense of God
“The most fundamental modern error is that of imagining that man’s natural sense of religion
is nothing more than the outcome of feeling or fantasy.”
Mater et Magistra, 214
“[T]he heart of the tragedy being experienced by modern man [is] the eclipse of the sense of God and of man“. (Evangelium Vitae, 21)
“[I]deologies do not take account of the whole man, nor even of his most important part…they fail to take account of that deep-rooted sense of religion which exists in all men everywhere, and which nothing, neither violence nor cunning, can eradicate.” (Magis et Magistra, 213)
“There is, alas, a spirit of hedonism abroad today which beguiles men into thinking that life is nothing more than the quest for pleasure and the satisfaction of human passions. This attitude is disastrous. Its evil effects on soul and body are undeniable.” (Magis et Magistra, 235)
No Freedom without Truth
“[T]here is the profound crisis of culture, which generates skepticism in relation to the very foundations of knowledge and ethics”.
“There are some indeed who go so far as to deny the existence of a moral order which is transcendent, absolute, universal and equally binding upon all.” (Mater et Magistra, 205)
“There is an even more profound aspect which needs to be emphasized: freedom negates and destroys itself and becomes a factor leading to the destruction of others, when it no longer recognizes and respects its essential link with the truth.” (Evangelium Vitae, 19)
“At the root of these negative phenomena there frequently lies a corruption of the idea and the experience of freedom, conceived…as an autonomous power of self-affirmation, often against others, for one’s own selfish well-being.” (Familiaris Consortio, 6)
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“Such a situation makes it increasingly difficult to grasp clearly the meaning of what man is, the meaning of his rights and his duties.” (Evangelium Vitae, 11)
“[M]ass media are often implicated…by lending credit to that culture which presents recourse to… abortion…as a mark of progress and a victory of freedom, while depicting as enemies of freedom and progress those positions which are unreservedly pro-life.” (Evangelium Vitae, 17)
“[A]n overall assessment of a cultural and moral nature, beginning with the mentality which carries the concept of subjectivity to an extreme and even distorts it”. (Evangelium Vitae, 19)
No Morality without God
“Separated from God a man is but a monster, in himself and toward others; for the right ordering of human society presupposes the right ordering of man’s conscience with God”.
“[T]he moral order has no existence except in God; cut off from God it must necessarily disintegrate.” (Mater et Magistra, 208)
When “any reference to common values and to a truth absolutely binding on everyone is lost…At that point, everything is negotiable.” (Evangelium Vitae, 20)
It is an “absurd attempt to reconstruct a solid and fruitful temporal order divorced from God, who is, in fact, the only foundation on which it can endure.” (Mater et Magistra, 217)
“[W]hen the sense of God is lost, the sense of man is also threatened and poisoned“. (Evangelium Vitae, 22)
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“When freedom, out of a desire to emancipate itself from all forms of tradition and authority, shuts out even the most obvious evidence of an objective and universal truth…a serious distortion of life in society” results. (Evangelium Vitae, 19-20)
“[T]he systematic violation of the moral law…produces a kind of progressive darkening of the capacity to discern God’s living and saving presence”. (Evangelium Vitae, 21)
What Can I Do?
The “very need for religion reveals a man for what he is: a being created by God and tending always toward God.”
Mater et Magistra, 214
Be Holy
“Realize then the supreme importance of spiritual and moral values”.
“A Christian’s outlook cannot be limited to the horizon of life in this world. He knows that during the present life another one is being prepared, one of such importance that it is in its light that judgments must be made.” (Declaration on Procured Abortion, 25)
Man demands “a moral and religious order; and it is this order…which has the greatest validity in the solution of problems relating to his life as an individual and as a member of society”. (Mater et Magistra, 208)
“The great task is…recapturing the ultimate meaning of life and its fundamental values. Only an awareness of the primacy of these values enables man…to bring about the true advancement of the human person in his or her whole truth, in his or her freedom and dignity.” (Familiaris Consortio, 8)
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“[T]he Church raises men up, gives them a home and a hope, a home that is hope – the path to eternal life“. (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), “Introduction to Christianity”, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004, p. 344.)
Speak Out
“The Church cannot be silent about the truth, because she would fail in her fidelity to God the Creator and would not help to distinguish good from evil.”
“As we proclaim the truth in love, it is not possible for us to avoid all criticism; nor is it possible to please everyone. And so we are humbly convinced that God is with us in our ministry of truth“. (Pope St. John Paul II, 7)
“Rights are at times reduced to self-centred demands: the growth of prostitution and pornography in the name of adult choice, the acceptance of abortion in the name of women’s rights, the approval of same sex unions in the name of homosexual rights.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 5)
“In the face of such erroneous yet pervasive thinking you must do everything possible to ‘evangelize culture … and promote Christian values in society and public life’.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 5)
“In the clarity of this truth, you exemplified the real charity of Christ; you did not betray those people who, because of homosexuality, are confronted with difficult moral problems, as would have happened if, in the name of understanding and compassion, or for any other reason, you had held out false hope to any brother or sister.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 6)
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“Furthermore, at times there are even attempts to give marriage a new definition in order to legalize homosexual unions, attributing to them the right to adopt children.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
Show Compassion
“It is up to us…to give voice to God and to show the face of his mercy…always have the blanket of mercy at hand.”
“Holiness in the Church begins with forbearance” (or patience). “True ‘holiness’ is not separation, but union; not judgement, but redeeming love.” Indeed, “the aspect of Christ’s holiness that upset his contemporaries was the complete absence of [a] condemnatory note“.
“This does not mean that everything must be left undisturbed and endured as it is.”
Indeed, the Church lives “from the struggle of the unholy to attain holiness…But this effort only becomes fruitful and constructive if it is inspired by the spirit of forbearance, by real love.”
(All quotes are from: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), “Introduction to Christianity”, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), pgs. 342, 343, 344.)
“Catholics…should show themselves animated by a spirit of understanding and unselfishness, ready to cooperate loyally”. (Mater et Magistra, 239)
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“[B]y your witness to the truth of humanity in God’s plan, you effectively manifested fraternal love, upholding the true dignity, the true human dignity, of those who look to Christ’s Church for the guidance which comes from the light of God’s word.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 6)
What Can Homosexuals Do?
“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.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358)
“Fundamentally, they are called to enact the will of God in their life by joining whatever sufferings and difficulties they experience in virtue of their condition to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 12)
However, this is “easily misunderstood…if it is merely seen as a pointless effort at self-denial. The Cross is a denial of self, but in service to the will of God himself who makes life come from death and empowers those who trust in him to practice virtue in place of vice.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 12)
“[E]ven when man rejects the truth and goodness that the Creator proposes to him, God does not abandon him but…continues to see him and to speak to him so that he will recognize his error and open himself to divine Mercy which can heal any.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
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“As they dedicate their lives to understanding the nature of God’s personal call to them, they will be able to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance more faithfully and receive the Lord’s grace so freely offered there in order to convert their lives more fully to his Way.” (On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 12)
FIND SUPPORT
In 1978 Terrence Cardinal Cook, Archbishop of New York, invited an organization to the archdiocese which offers a spiritual support system for men and women with homosexual orientation who desire to live chaste lives. Called “Courage”, Lopez Cardinal Trujillo, Pontifical Council for the Family, later offered the Holy See’s support for Courage’s “helping homosexual persons to live in accordance with the laws of God and the teaching of His Church” (7 July 1994 – Prot. N216/93)
As an apostolate of the Catholic Church COURAGE and EnCourage are, respectively, two groups helping Catholic men and women – and their families – to live in accordance with the Catholic Church’s pastoral teaching on homosexuality.
Courage members are men and women who experience same-sex attractions and who have made a commitment to strive for chastity. They are inspired by the Gospel call to holiness and the Catholic Church’s beautiful teachings about the goodness and inherent purpose of human sexuality.
Homosexuality in the Bible
There is “a clear consistency within the Scriptures themselves on the moral issue of homosexual behavior.”
On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 5
Claims “that Scripture has nothing to say on the subject of homosexuality, or that it somehow tacitly approves of it, or that all of its moral injunctions are so culture-bound that they are no longer applicable to contemporary life…are gravely erroneous”.
On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 4
Homosexuality in the Old Testament
“God created man in his own image… male and female created he them. And God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:27-28)
Homosexuality is a sin against human nature as: The men of Sodom are rebuked (Genesis 19:1-11) when, seeking to abuse two angels of God, they called out: “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them. Lot went outside to meet them…and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.” (Genesis 19:24-25).
Leviticus leaves no doubt of the moral judgement made against homosexual relations: “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” (Leviticus 18:22)
Leviticus goes further, calling for a heavy price: “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” (Leviticus 20:13)
Homosexuality in the New Testament
Saint Paul is quite clear, warning the Corinthians: “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Cor 6:9-10
Here, the penalty of death established in Leviticus is replaced with an even greater penalty: they will not “inherit the kingdom of God”. Can there be a bigger price than losing eternal repose?
Paul, in addressing the Romans, builds on the laws of Judaism (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13), placing them in the context of the conflict between Christianity and pagan society. He explained how, having “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made” (Genesis 1-22) “God gave them over to shameful passions: their wives replaced natural intercourse with unnatural ones, and so also men…became enflamed with lust for one another, and men committed shameful acts with men and received the deserved reward of their deviation.” (Romans 1:26-27).
Finally, in his letter to Timothy, Paul names those who engage in homosexual acts as sinners: “[T]he law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for…the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality…and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God”. 1 Timothy 1:8-11
“St. Paul uses homosexual behavior as an example of the blindness which has overcome humankind.”
On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, 6
Christianity and Homosexuality
“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity [Gen 19:1-29; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10] tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ (see Persona Humana, VIII) They are contrary to the natural law…/Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2357
The Early Centuries
From the late first century (The Didache) through the fifth century (Augustine) The early Church consistently thought that homosexual behavior was intrinsically wrong.
Writings include: The Didache, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Novatian, Cyprian of Carthage, Arnobius, Eusebius, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Augustine.
You may find the details at Catholic.com, Early Teachings on Homosexuality.
Early Middle Ages
Under Charlemagne’s “reign, church councils and synods issued at least seven ordinances condemning homosexuality. In 789, in a ‘General Admonition’ to his subjects, Charlemagne specifically endorsed heavy sanctions…’for those who sin against nature with animals or with men‘.” (História Medieval, Pg 156, 157)
Middle Ages
In the 11th century, St. Peter Damien railed against an epidemic of the vice of sodomy “raging like a cruel beast within the sheepfold of Christ”. In a letter to Pope Leo IX and subsequent book (The Book of Gomorrah) he denounced the rampant homosexuality within and without the Church.” (See: Charlette Allen, Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, Carl Sundell, Tom Bethell). For his part Pope Leo IX (11th century) called love between men “obscene,” “filthy,” and “an execrable vice.” (História Medieval, Pg 113)
St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury denounced “that most shameful of crime of sodomy” in the 12th century both in his writings and at the Council of London in 1102. (História Medieval, Pg 36)
The Third Lateran Council, in 1179, referring to homosexual behavior, called for clerics to “be expelled from the clergy or confined in monasteries to do penance; if they are laymen they are to incur excommunication and be completely separated from the society of the faithful”. (Third Lateran Council, Canon 11)
St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, pointed out that not all things to which a person is inclined are “natural”. Rather, only dispositions oriented toward the proper expression of human nature are natural. Contrary inclinations, he said, are perversions and destructive of the good. (Summa Theologiae, Prima Secundae Partis, Q. 94)
He subsequently called homosexuality an “unnatural vice” and “contrary to the natural order” as well as “contrary to right reason“. He found it to be “the greatest sin of lust“. (Summa Theologiae, Secunda Secundae Partis, Q. 154)
The Renaissance
The Council of Trent, 16th century, produced a Catechism which sated “sodomites shall not possess the kingdom of God.” (Catechism of the Council of Trent, pg. 259)
Modern Times
In the early 20th century the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X stated “The sins that are said to cry to God for vengeance are these four: (1) Willful murder; (2) The sin of sodomy; (3) Oppression of the poor; (4) Defrauding laborers of their wages.” (Catechism of Pope Pius X, 1908)
In 1975 Pope St. Paul VI had published a Declaration saying, “At the present time there are those who…have begun to…excuse completely, homosexual relation…This they do in opposition to the constant teaching of the Magisterium and to the moral sense of the Christian people.” (Persona Humana, VIII)
In 1986 Pope St. John Paul II had published a Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons. Written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) the Letter removed any ambiguity regarding the Church’s tolerance of homosexual behavior. It also affirmed homosexual orientation is not a sin. However, it is representative of an inclination towards the “moral evil” of homosexual behavior and must be considered “an objective disorder“.
In 1993 homosexuality was referenced in an encyclical, Pope St. John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor where he confirms that the Apostle Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians is “formally expressed by the Council of Trent (16th century), [and] places among the ‘mortal sins’, or ‘infamous practices’, certain specific behaviors whose voluntary acceptance prevents believers from sharing in the promised inheritance.” (49)
Pope Francis has clearly reiterated Church teaching on homosexual behavior. However, reflecting the pastoral approach which has marked his papacy, he emphasizes God’s love and infinite capacity for forgiveness: “God is Father and he does not disown any of his children. And ‘the style’ of God is ‘closeness, mercy, and tenderness. In this way (or along this path) you will find God.” (Pope Francis)
With this approach Pope Francis seeks draw close to the Church homosexuals to experience God’s love and become aware of the truth.
WE NEED THE FAMILY!
Catholic Social Teaching and Other Issues
It is our special task to order and throw light upon all the affairs of the world in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ: “let the laity also by their combined efforts remedy the customs and conditions of the world.”
