Question:
Why does the Catholic Church consider homosexuality immoral and wrong? I know that the Church does not personally have anything against gays and lesbians, but why are homosexual acts considered sinful in the eyes of the Church? Where is the basis for this principle in the Bible?
Answer:
The main position of the Church regarding homosexuality is: love the sinner, hate the sin.
In Paul’s Letter to the Romans it states: "God therefore delivered them up to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and men gave up natural intercourse with women and burned for lust for one another. Men did shameful things with men, and thus received in their own persons the penalty for their perversity. They did not see fit to acknowledge God, so God delivered them up to their own depraved sense to do what is unseemly." Romans 1:26-28. Other scriptural references are found in Genesis 19:1-29, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:10.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following: "2357 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 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. 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 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 support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection."
Therefore, the Church, the People of God, welcomes all sinners and has respect, compassion, and sensitivity to those with homosexual tendencies. But the Spirit of God and the Church challenges the sinner to turn away from sin and turn towards God’s loving plan. This is called "conversion," and conversion is a lifelong process. For those with homosexual tendencies, the challenge is to become and remain chaste and to eventually be converted toward Christian perfection.
May the Spirit lead all of us sinners to Christian perfection!
Very Rev. Kevin Michael Quirk, JCD
Judicial Vicar