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"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 froma genuine affective and sexual complemantarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved."
(Catechsim of Catholic Church, 2357)
"The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is 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 fulfil 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.
(Catechsim of Catholic Church 2358)
"Homosexual persons are to be fully respected in their human dignity and encouraged to follow God's plan with particular attention in the exercise of chastity. This duty calling for respect does not justify the legitimisation of behaviour that is not consistent with moral law, even less does it justify the recognition of a right to marriage between two persons of the same sex and its being considered equivalent to the family."
(Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 228) |
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 Frequently Asked Questions
2. Same Sex Love: Right or Wrong?
It is important to know that there is a difference between attraction to people of the same sex, what is normally called homosexuality, and sexual acts in which two people of the same sex might engage.
The Catholic Church teaches that complementarity of the sexes is part of God's plan for human happiness and flourishing. Yet some people find that this is not the case for them; they find themselves sexually attracted to people of the same sex. Why this is so is not clear and different explanations are given, but between 1-5% of the population find that they are predominantly attracted to people of the same sex and have no attraction to those of the opposite sex.
During adolescence, some people may experience feelings when they are not exactly sure who they are attracted to and they may even feel attracted to people of the same sex. Such a person is not necessarily homosexual, since this is a more permanent and predominant attraction.
There is no question of the disposition to same sex attraction being right or wrong, since moral actions require freedom to choose and such freedom does not exist for most people with same sex attraction.
Things are different, however, when one considers sexual activity between people of the same sex. The Church teaches that marriage between a man and a woman is the only morally acceptable context for sexual acts. People are free to control how they act out their sexuality. Even if they cannot choose who they are attracted to, they can decide what they acts they commit. Thus, the Catholic Church teaches that sexual acts carried out between people who are not married are morally wrong.
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