Catholic teachings on sexual morality
Encyclopedia
Catholic teachings on sexual morality draw from natural law
, Sacred Scripture
and Sacred Tradition
and are promulgated authoritatively by the Magisterium
. Sexual morality evaluates the goodness of sexual behavior, and often provides general principles by which Catholics are able to evaluate the morality of specific actions.
The Catholic Church teaches that human life and human sexuality are both inseparable and sacred. Because Catholics believe God created human beings in his own image and likeness and that he found everything he created to be "very good," the Catholic Church teaches that human body and sex must likewise be good. The Catechism teaches that "the flesh is the hinge of salvation." The Church considers the expression of love between husband and wife to be an elevated form of human activity, joining as it does, husband and wife in complete mutual self-giving, and opening their relationship to new life. “The sexual activity, in which husband and wife are intimately and chastely united with one another, through which human life is transmitted, is, as the recent Council recalled, ‘noble and worthy.’” It is in cases in which sexual expression is sought outside sacramental marriage, or in which the procreative function of sexual expression within marriage is deliberately frustrated, that the Catholic Church expresses grave moral concern.
However the Church does teach that sexual intercourse outside of marriage is contrary to its purpose. The "conjugal act" aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul" since the marriage bond is to be a sign of the love between God and humanity.
Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, homosexual practices and artificial contraception
. Besides being considered a grave sin, the procurement or assistance in abortion
can carry the penalty of excommunication.
theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature
and that therefore has validity everywhere. Despite pagan
associations with natural law theory, a number (though not all) of the early Church Fathers
sought to incorporate it into Christianity
.
In an influential passage of the Summa Theologiae
, St. Thomas Aquinas
wrote,
Natural law is a basic source for Catholic teachings on sexual morality.
Two of the Ten Commandments
directly address sexual morality, forbidding adultery and coveting a neighbor's wife. See Exodus 20:14, 17; Deuteronomy 5:18, 21.
Jesus
comments on these commandments in Matthew 5:27-28: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Jesus makes reference to the passages from Genesis in his teachings on marriage in Matthew 19: "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
, having lived a hedonistic
lifestyle in his early youth, later followed the strictly dualistic
religion of Manicheanism, which was deeply hostile to the material world, despising sexual activity. Eventually, under the influence of his Christian mother Monica, Augustine converted to Christianity, and later wrote movingly of this conversion in his Confessions
, including details of the sexually-related aspects. The following passage from his autobiography describes a critical turning point in his change of sexual morality:
and early modern periods, theologians continued to write on issues relating to sexual morality and marriage, one example being Giovanni Maria Chiericato (Joannes Clericati) in his Decisiones de Matrimonio.
. Sexual intercourse within marriage is considered chaste when it retains the twofold significance of union and procreation. Pope John Paul II
wrote,
Because sex is considered chaste only within context of marriage it has come to be called the nuptial act in Catholic passages. Among Catholics, the nuptial act is considered to be the conjoining of two human beings through sexual intercourse, considered an act of love between two married persons, and is considered in this way, a gift from God. While discussing chastity, the Catechism of the Catholic Church lists several transgressions and sins against it.
considered the subject in 1963-66. Contraception is defined as "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible." Contraception so defined is intrinsically evil.
Pope John Paul II taught in Familiaris Consortio
,
Health uses of contraceptives
Occasionally, a substance that is most commonly used as a contraceptive may be used to treat a medical condition. One example is the use of hormonal contraception
to treat endometriosis
. Because such treatments are used without contraceptive intent, they are not morally considered contraception.
The use of condoms to prevent disease is a more controversial and more complex issue, with theologians arguing both sides. Unlike drugs and surgical procedures, however, the current consensus is that using condoms during sex is morally contraceptive and thus a sin.
Issues surrounding the Roman Catholic Church and AIDS have become highly controversial in the past twenty years, primarily because many prominent religious leaders have publicly declared their opposition to the use of condoms as a disease preventative. Other issues involve religious participation in global health care services and collaboration with secular organizations such as UNAIDS and the World Health Organization.
In November of 2010, the Pope stated that it is acceptable to use condoms in some very special cases as a device for the prevention of disease. He gave male prostitutes as an example, where the purpose is to "reduce the risk of infection" from HIV
. While still believing that contraceptive devices interfere with the creation of life, the Pope stated that in that particular case, it can be a responsible act to raise awareness of the nature of such an act, and as a benefit, to avoid death and save life, though only as a first step, not a truly moral solution, before convincing the prostitute of a truly moral solution, which means ceasing prostitution and sexual activity outside of marriage. There was some confusion at first whether the statement applied only to homosexual prostitutes and thus not to heterosexual intercourse at all. However, Federico Lombardi
, spokesman of the Vatican, clarified that it applied to heterosexual and transsexual prostitutes, both male and female, as well. He did, on the other hand, also clarify that in that interview the Pope did not reverse the Church's longstanding prohibition, in place for centuries, on contraceptive use in the context of heterosexual sexual acts, which the Church states must normally be open to the transmission of life. He did not reverse his positions on homosexual acts and/or prostitution either.
are considered "intrinsically disordered."
. St. Thomas Aquinas
, one of the most prominent Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church, wrote that masturbation, an "unnatural vice" which is a species of lust in same category as bestiality and sodomy
, "by procuring pollution [i.e., ejaculation apart from intercourse], without any copulation, for the sake of venereal pleasure [...] pertains to the sin of 'uncleanness' which some call 'effeminacy
' [Latin: mollitiem, lit. 'softness, unmanliness']."
More recently, from the Youcat
:
409 Masturbation is an offense against love, because it makes the excitement of sexual pleasure an end in itself and uncouples it from the holistic unfolding of love between a man and a woman. That is why “sex with yourself” is a contradiction in terms.
and states that civil governments have a moral obligation to eliminate its presence in society.
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
, Sacred Scripture
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and Sacred Tradition
Sacred Tradition
Sacred Tradition or Holy Tradition is a theological term used in some Christian traditions, primarily in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church authority....
and are promulgated authoritatively by the Magisterium
Magisterium
In the Catholic Church the Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church. This authority is understood to be embodied in the episcopacy, which is the aggregation of the current bishops of the Church in union with the Pope, led by the Bishop of Rome , who has authority over the bishops,...
. Sexual morality evaluates the goodness of sexual behavior, and often provides general principles by which Catholics are able to evaluate the morality of specific actions.
The Catholic Church teaches that human life and human sexuality are both inseparable and sacred. Because Catholics believe God created human beings in his own image and likeness and that he found everything he created to be "very good," the Catholic Church teaches that human body and sex must likewise be good. The Catechism teaches that "the flesh is the hinge of salvation." The Church considers the expression of love between husband and wife to be an elevated form of human activity, joining as it does, husband and wife in complete mutual self-giving, and opening their relationship to new life. “The sexual activity, in which husband and wife are intimately and chastely united with one another, through which human life is transmitted, is, as the recent Council recalled, ‘noble and worthy.’” It is in cases in which sexual expression is sought outside sacramental marriage, or in which the procreative function of sexual expression within marriage is deliberately frustrated, that the Catholic Church expresses grave moral concern.
However the Church does teach that sexual intercourse outside of marriage is contrary to its purpose. The "conjugal act" aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul" since the marriage bond is to be a sign of the love between God and humanity.
Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, homosexual practices and artificial contraception
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
. Besides being considered a grave sin, the procurement or assistance in abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
can carry the penalty of excommunication.
Natural law
Natural law is an ethicalEthics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
and that therefore has validity everywhere. Despite pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
associations with natural law theory, a number (though not all) of the early Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
sought to incorporate it into Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
.
In an influential passage of the Summa Theologiae
Summa Theologica
The Summa Theologiæ is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas , and although unfinished, "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the main...
, St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
wrote,
the rational creature is subject to Divine providence in the most
excellent way, in so far as it partakes of a share of providence,
by being provident both for itself and for others. Wherefore it has
a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination
to its proper act and end: and this participation of the eternal law
in the rational creature is called the natural law.
Natural law is a basic source for Catholic teachings on sexual morality.
Sacred scripture
The creation stories in Genesis 1-3 provide insights into anthropology that inform Catholic sexual morality. The following verses are frequently cited in Catholic studies of sexual morality:- "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'" (Gen 1:27)
- "The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.' Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed." (Gen 2:21-25)
- "To the woman he said, 'I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.'" (Gen 3:16)
Two of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
directly address sexual morality, forbidding adultery and coveting a neighbor's wife. See Exodus 20:14, 17; Deuteronomy 5:18, 21.
Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
comments on these commandments in Matthew 5:27-28: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Jesus makes reference to the passages from Genesis in his teachings on marriage in Matthew 19: "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
Fathers of the church
Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, having lived a hedonistic
Hedonism
Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....
lifestyle in his early youth, later followed the strictly dualistic
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
religion of Manicheanism, which was deeply hostile to the material world, despising sexual activity. Eventually, under the influence of his Christian mother Monica, Augustine converted to Christianity, and later wrote movingly of this conversion in his Confessions
Confessions (St. Augustine)
Confessions is the name of an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books, by St. Augustine of Hippo, written between AD 397 and AD 398. Modern English translations of it are sometimes published under the title The Confessions of St...
, including details of the sexually-related aspects. The following passage from his autobiography describes a critical turning point in his change of sexual morality:
So quickly I returned to the place where Alypius was sitting; for there had I put down the volume of the apostles, when I rose thence. I grasped, opened, and in silence read that paragraph on which my eyes first fell: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." [Romans 13:13-14] No further would I read, nor did I need...
Medieval theologians
Saint Thomas Aquinas dealt with sexual morality as an aspect of the virtue of temperance, and incorporates Scripture throughout his account. In his Summa Theologiae he writes about chastity:
The word "chastity" is employed in two ways. First, properly; and thus it is a special virtue having a special matter, namely the concupiscences relating to venereal pleasures. Secondly, the word "chastity" is employed metaphorically: for just as a mingling of bodies conduces to venereal pleasure which is the proper matter of chastity and of lust its contrary vice, so too the spiritual union of the mind with certain things conduces to a pleasure which is the matter of a spiritual chastity metaphorically speaking, as well as of a spiritual fornication likewise metaphorically so called. For if the human mind delight in the spiritual union with that to which it behooves it to be united, namely God, and refrains from delighting in union with other things against the requirements of the order established by God, this may be called a spiritual chastity, according to 2 Cor. 11:2, "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." If, on the other hand, the mind be united to any other things whatsoever, against the prescription of the Divine order, it will be called spiritual fornication, according to Jer. 3:1, "But thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers." Taking chastity in this sense, it is a general virtue, because every virtue withdraws the human mind from delighting in a union with unlawful things. Nevertheless, the essence of this chastity consists principally in charity and the other theological virtues, whereby the human mind is united to God.
Early modern theologians
In the Counter-ReformationCounter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
and early modern periods, theologians continued to write on issues relating to sexual morality and marriage, one example being Giovanni Maria Chiericato (Joannes Clericati) in his Decisiones de Matrimonio.
Recent magisterial teachings
- Casti ConnubiiCasti ConnubiiCastī Connūbiī was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope Pius XI on December 31, 1930 in response to the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican church. It stressed the sanctity of marriage, prohibited Catholics from using any form of artificial birth control, and reaffirmed the prohibition on abortion...
(1930) by Pope Pius XI
-
- Casti Connubii was written in part as a response to the decision of the Anglican Lambeth Conference in 1930 that taught the legitimacy of the use of contraception in some circumstances.
- "any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin."
- Humanae VitaeHumanae VitaeHumanae Vitae is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and issued on 25 July 1968. Subtitled On the Regulation of Birth, it re-affirms the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and the continuing proscription of most forms of birth...
(1968) by Pope Paul VI - Theology of the BodyTheology of the BodyTheology of the Body is the topic of a series of 129 lectures given by Pope John Paul II during his Wednesday audiences in the Pope Paul VI Hall between September 1979 and November 1984. It was the first major teaching of his pontificate...
by Pope John Paul II - Evangelium VitaeEvangelium VitaeEvangelium Vitae is the name of the encyclical written by Pope John Paul II which expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding the value and inviolability of human life...
(1995) by Pope John Paul II - Donum Vitae (1987) by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Veritatis SplendorVeritatis SplendorVeritatis Splendor is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II. It expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding fundamentals of the Church's role in moral teaching. The encyclical is one of the most comprehensive and philosophical teachings of moral theology in the Catholic tradition...
(1993) by Pope John Paul II - Catechism of the Catholic ChurchCatechism of the Catholic ChurchThe Catechism of the Catholic Church is the official text of the teachings of the Catholic Church. A provisional, "reference text" was issued by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992 — "the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council" — with his apostolic...
(1992) - Deus Caritas EstDeus Caritas EstDeus Caritas Est is a 2006 encyclical—the first written by Pope Benedict XVI, in large part derived from writings by his late predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Its subject is love, as seen through a Christian perspective, and God's place within all love...
(2006)
Adultery
One of the ten commandments. Thou shalt not commit Adultery.Chastity
Catholicism defines chastity as the virtue that moderates the sexual appetite. Unmarried Catholics express chastity through sexual abstinenceSexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical or religious reasons.Common reasons for practicing sexual abstinence include:*poor health - medical celibacy...
. Sexual intercourse within marriage is considered chaste when it retains the twofold significance of union and procreation. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
wrote,
At the center of the spirituality of marriage, therefore, there lies chastity not only as a moral virtue (formed by love), but likewise as a virtue connected with the gifts of the Holy Spirit—above all, the gift of respect for what comes from God (donum pietatis). This gift is in the mind of the author of the Ephesians when he exhorts married couples to "defer to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Eph 5:21). So the interior order of married life, which enables the manifestations of affection to develop according to their right proportion and meaning, is a fruit not only of the virtue which the couple practice, but also of the gifts of the Holy Spirit with which they cooperate.
Because sex is considered chaste only within context of marriage it has come to be called the nuptial act in Catholic passages. Among Catholics, the nuptial act is considered to be the conjoining of two human beings through sexual intercourse, considered an act of love between two married persons, and is considered in this way, a gift from God. While discussing chastity, the Catechism of the Catholic Church lists several transgressions and sins against it.
Contraception
A Pontifical Commission on Birth ControlPontifical Commission on Birth Control
The Pontifical Commission on Birth Control was a committee within the Roman Curia tasked with analyzing the modern impact of birth control on the Roman Catholic Church...
considered the subject in 1963-66. Contraception is defined as "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible." Contraception so defined is intrinsically evil.
Pope John Paul II taught in Familiaris Consortio
Familiaris Consortio
Familiaris Consortio is a postsynodal Apostolic Exhortation written by Pope John Paul II and promulgated on November 22, 1981.It describes the official position of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the meaning and role of marriage and the family,...
,
Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality.... the difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality.
Health uses of contraceptives
Occasionally, a substance that is most commonly used as a contraceptive may be used to treat a medical condition. One example is the use of hormonal contraception
Hormonal contraception
Hormonal contraception refers to birth control methods that act on the endocrine system. Almost all methods are composed of steroid hormones, although in India one selective estrogen receptor modulator is marketed as a contraceptive. The original hormonal method—the combined oral contraceptive...
to treat endometriosis
Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a gynecological medical condition in which cells from the lining of the uterus appear and flourish outside the uterine cavity, most commonly on the ovaries. The uterine cavity is lined by endometrial cells, which are under the influence of female hormones...
. Because such treatments are used without contraceptive intent, they are not morally considered contraception.
The use of condoms to prevent disease is a more controversial and more complex issue, with theologians arguing both sides. Unlike drugs and surgical procedures, however, the current consensus is that using condoms during sex is morally contraceptive and thus a sin.
Issues surrounding the Roman Catholic Church and AIDS have become highly controversial in the past twenty years, primarily because many prominent religious leaders have publicly declared their opposition to the use of condoms as a disease preventative. Other issues involve religious participation in global health care services and collaboration with secular organizations such as UNAIDS and the World Health Organization.
In November of 2010, the Pope stated that it is acceptable to use condoms in some very special cases as a device for the prevention of disease. He gave male prostitutes as an example, where the purpose is to "reduce the risk of infection" from HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. While still believing that contraceptive devices interfere with the creation of life, the Pope stated that in that particular case, it can be a responsible act to raise awareness of the nature of such an act, and as a benefit, to avoid death and save life, though only as a first step, not a truly moral solution, before convincing the prostitute of a truly moral solution, which means ceasing prostitution and sexual activity outside of marriage. There was some confusion at first whether the statement applied only to homosexual prostitutes and thus not to heterosexual intercourse at all. However, Federico Lombardi
Federico Lombardi
Federico Lombardi, SJ is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the current director of the Holy See Press Office.-Early life and ordination:...
, spokesman of the Vatican, clarified that it applied to heterosexual and transsexual prostitutes, both male and female, as well. He did, on the other hand, also clarify that in that interview the Pope did not reverse the Church's longstanding prohibition, in place for centuries, on contraceptive use in the context of heterosexual sexual acts, which the Church states must normally be open to the transmission of life. He did not reverse his positions on homosexual acts and/or prostitution either.
Homosexuality
In the Catholic Church's moral doctrine, homosexual actsHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
are considered "intrinsically disordered."
Masturbation
The Roman Catholic Church disapproves of masturbationMasturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
. St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
, one of the most prominent Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church, wrote that masturbation, an "unnatural vice" which is a species of lust in same category as bestiality and sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
, "by procuring pollution [i.e., ejaculation apart from intercourse], without any copulation, for the sake of venereal pleasure [...] pertains to the sin of 'uncleanness' which some call 'effeminacy
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
' [Latin: mollitiem, lit. 'softness, unmanliness']."
More recently, from the Youcat
Youcat
Youcat is a 2011 publication, named by its authors as: "Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church", because it aims to be an aid for youth to better understand the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The book, drafted in the form of a conversation, is intended for use by Catholic youths around the world...
:
409 Masturbation is an offense against love, because it makes the excitement of sexual pleasure an end in itself and uncouples it from the holistic unfolding of love between a man and a woman. That is why “sex with yourself” is a contradiction in terms.
Pornography
The Catholic Church disapproves of the proliferation of pornographyPornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
and states that civil governments have a moral obligation to eliminate its presence in society.
See also
- Catholic theology of the bodyCatholic theology of the bodyIn Roman Catholicism, the Theology of the Body is based on the premise that the human body has its origin in God. It will be, like the body of Jesus, Resurrected, transformed and taken into heavenly glory. Theological anthropology is based on this premise...
- Christian views on contraceptionChristian views on contraceptionPrior to the 20th century, contraception was generally condemned by all the major branches of Christianity including the major reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin...
- Homosexuality and Catholicism
- Sexual ethicsSexual ethicsSexual ethics refers to those aspects of ethics that deal with issues arising from all aspects of sexuality and human sexual behavior...
- Moral theologyMoral theologyMoral theology is a systematic theological treatment of Christian ethics. It is usually taught on Divinity faculties as a part of the basic curriculum.- External links :*...
External links
- "Sex & the Early Church" by Sam Torode