Catholic Church and homosexuality

The Catholic Church teaches that, as a person does not choose to be either homosexual or heterosexual, being gay is not inherently sinful.[2][3] According to the Catholic theology of sexuality, all sexual acts must be open to procreation and express the symbolism of male-female complementarity.[4][5] Sexual acts between two members of the same gender cannot meet these standards.[6] Homosexuality thus constitutes a tendency towards this sin.[6][4][7] The church teaches that gay people are called to practice chastity.[8]

The church also teaches that gay people "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity", and that "every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided."[9][lower-alpha 1] whilst holding that discrimination in marriage,[11][12] employment, housing, and adoption in some circumstances can be just and "obligatory."[13]

The church points to several passages in the Bible as the basis for its teachings, including Genesis 19:1-11, Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, I Corinthians 6:9, Romans 1:18-32, and I Timothy 1:10.[14] In December 2019, the Pontifical Biblical Commission published a book that included an exegesis on these and other passages.[15]

The Christian tradition has generally prohibited all sexual activities outside of sexual intercourse.[16] This includes activities engaged in by couples or individuals of either the same or different sexes.[16] The Catholic Church's position specifically on homosexuality developed from the teachings of the Church Fathers, which was in stark contrast to Greek and Roman attitudes towards same-sex relations, including pederasty.[17][18][19]

Canon law regarding same-sex sexual activity has been shaped through the decrees issued by a series of ecclesiastical councils.[20] Initially, canons against sodomy were aimed at ensuring clerical or monastic discipline, and were only widened in the medieval period to include laymen.[21] In the Summa Theologica, Saint Thomas Aquinas stated that "the unnatural vice" is the greatest of the sins of lust.[22] Throughout the Middle Ages, the church repeatedly condemned homosexuality, and often collaborated with civic authorities to punish gay people. Punishment of sexual "vice" as well as religious heresy was seen as strengthening the church's moral authority.[23]

In the late 20th century, the Church has responded to gay rights movements by reiterating its condemnation of homosexuality while acknowledging the existence of gay people. In January 1976, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Paul VI published Persona Humana, which codified the teaching against all extra-marital sex, including gay sex.[24] Homosexuality was named as such for the first time in a papal encyclical in Pope John Paul II's Veritatis Splendor of 1993, which "specifically proclaims the intrinsic evil of the homosexual condition".[25]^:207 There he declared that homosexual intercourse is performed by a choice of the will, unlike homosexual orientation which he acknowledged is not a matter of free choice.[2] The church has also been politically active to oppose gay rights movements in the civil sphere.

However, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez pointed out from his time with the future Pope Francis in Argentina: "Bergoglio always recognized that, without calling it ‘marriage,’ there are in fact, very close unions between people of the same sex, which do not in themselves imply sexual relations, but a very intense and stable alliance.”[26]

In an early 2019 interview, for the Mexican broadcaster Televisa, the pope endorsed same-sex couples by stating: "convivencia civil" (in Spanish); this remark aired in October 2020 for the film Francesco in which the expression was translated to "civil union" in the subtitles of the film. This has been picked up by the media as Pope Francis supporting same-sex civil union.[27][28][29] Some Spanish-speaking Catholic priests said the translation was inaccurate. Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández of La Plata, long-time theological advisor of Pope Francis, has defended that the two expressions "unión civil" and "ley de convivencia civil" are often used interchangeably in Argentina when speaking about laws, and designate a civil union.[30][29]

Beginning in the 1970s, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops taught that gays "should have an active role in the Christian community" and have called on "all Christians and citizens of good will to confront their own fears about homosexuality and to curb the humor and discrimination that offend homosexual persons. We understand that having a homosexual orientation brings with it enough anxiety, pain and issues related to self-acceptance without society bringing additional prejudicial treatment."[31]

Bishops around the world have held diocesan events with the goal of reaching out to gay Catholics and ministering to them, and more have spoken publicly about the need to love and welcome them into the church. Pope John Paul II asked "the bishops to support, with the means at their disposal, the development of appropriate forms of pastoral care for homosexual persons.”[32] Several assemblies of the Synod of Bishops have struck similar themes, while maintaining that same-sex sexual activity is sinful and that same-sex marriage cannot be permitted.[33] In 2018, in a move regarded as a sign of respect to the community,[33] the Vatican used the acronym LGBT for the first time in an official document.[34] Pope Francis has also spoken out about the need for pastoral care for gay Catholics, adding that God made LGBT people that way.[35][36][37]

Beginning in the 1960s, a number of organizations have formed to minister to LGBT people. Organizations such as DignityUSA and New Ways Ministry, which advocate for the rights of LGBT Catholics, and Courage International, which encourages gay and lesbian Catholics to be chaste, were established in the United States in response to the push within the United States for greater recognition within the church for gay men and lesbian women. Courage also has a ministry geared towards the relatives and friends of gay people called Encourage.[38]

There have been practical and ministerial disagreements within the clergy, hierarchy, and laity of the Catholic Church concerning the church's position on homosexuality. Some Catholics and Catholic groups have sought to adopt an approach they consider to be more inclusive.[39][40][41][42] Dissenters argue that the prohibition on extramarital sex emphasizes the physical dimension of the act at the expense of higher moral, personal and spiritual goals[43] and that the practice of total, lifelong sexual denial risks personal isolation.[44] Other arguments include that the teaching violates "the truth of God’s unconditional love for all people", and drives "young people away from the Church".[45] Opponents argue that it is preferable to believe that this element of church teaching is mistaken.[46] The opinion of lay Catholics tends to be more supportive of gay marriage than the hierarchy.[47]

Upwards of 70 people have been fired from jobs at Catholic schools or universities because of their marriages to partners of the same sex[33][48][49][50][51] or, in one case, support for LGBT rights campaigns.[52][48] When one Jesuit high school refused to fire a teacher after he publicly entered into a gay marriage, the local bishop designated the school as no longer Catholic; the school has appealed his decision.[53]

In response to church policy in the area of safe-sex education, AIDS, and gay rights, some gay rights activists have protested both inside and outside of Catholic churches, sometimes disrupting Masses. This includes at the National Shrine in Washington,[54][55] at an ordination of priests at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston,[56][57][58] and during Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York[55][54][56] where they desecrated the Eucharist.[59][60] Others have splattered paint on churches[61] and drenched an archbishop with water.[62] In 1998, Alfredo Ormando died after setting himself on fire outside Saint Peter's Basilica to protest the church's position on homosexuality.[63]

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organisation, has contributed over $14 million, one of the largest amounts in the United States, to political campaigns against same-sex marriage.[64] The Catholic Medical Association of North America has stated that science "counters the myth that same-sex attraction is genetically predetermined and unchangeable, and offers hope for prevention and treatment."[65] The Church, however, teaches that sexual orientation is not a choice.[2][3] Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, has been criticized for describing the church child sex abuse crisis as a "homosexual" problem rather than a "pedophilia" problem.[66] Donohue based his claim on the fact that most of the incidents involved sexual contact between men and boys rather than between men and girls.

Homosexual clergy, and homosexual activity by clergy, are not exclusively modern phenomena, but rather date back centuries.[67] Donald Cozzens estimated the percentage of gay priests in 2000 to be 23–58%, suggesting more homosexual men (active and non-active) within the Catholic priesthood than within society at large.[68] Instructions from Vatican bodies on admitting gay men to the priesthood have varied over time. In the 1960s chaste gay men were allowed but in 2005 a new directive banned gay men "while profoundly respecting the persons in question."[69][70]

Although homosexuality was at variance with Catholic teaching during the Middle Ages, official penalties for homosexual behavior within the clergy, both by the church and temporal authorities, were rarely codified or enforced.[71] Historian John Boswell noted that several bishops in the Middle Ages were thought by their contemporaries to have had gay relationships, and noted a potentially romantic or sexual tone to the correspondence of others with "passionate" male friends.[72] Some other historians disagree, and say that this correspondence represents friendship.[73] Although homosexual acts have been consistently condemned by the Catholic Church, some senior members of the clergy have been found or alleged to have had homosexual relationships, including Rembert Weakland, Juan Carlos Maccarone, Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, and Keith O'Brien.[74][75][76][77] Some Popes are documented to have been homosexual or to have had male sexual partners, including Pope Benedict IX, Pope Paul II, Pope Sixtus IV, Pope Leo X, Pope Julius II and Pope Julius III.[78][79]

The church has historically been politically active in local, national, and international fora on issues of LGBT rights, typically to oppose them in keeping with Catholic moral theology and Catholic Social Teaching.

In various countries, members of the Catholic Church have intervened on occasions both to support efforts to decriminalize homosexuality, and also to ensure it remains an offence under criminal law. The Catholic Church has been described as sending "mixed signals" regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation:[44] a 1992 teaching said that because sexuality "evokes moral concern," sexual orientation is different from qualities such as race, ethnicity, sex, or age, which do not.[13][44] It added that efforts to "protect the common good" by limiting rights were permissible and sometimes obligatory, and did not constitute discrimination. The church therefore opposes the extension of at least some aspects of civil rights legislation, such as nondiscrimination in public housing,[80] educational or athletic employment,[80] adoption,[80][81] or military recruitment,[80][82] to gay men and lesbians.[16][83][13][84] The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a statement that was characterized by two theologians as claiming that "nondiscrimination legislation protecting LGBT people promotes immoral sexual behavior, endangers our children, and threatens religious liberty."[84] It also campaigns against same-sex marriage.

There have been notable gay Catholics throughout history.. Writers such as Oscar Wilde,[85] Gerard Manley Hopkins,[85] Lord Alfred Douglas, Marc-André Raffalovich, Robert Hugh Benson, and Frederick Rolfe,[85][86] and artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe,[87] were influenced by both their Catholicism and their homosexuality. Gay Catholic academics such as John J. McNeill[88] and John Boswell have produced work on the history and theological issues at the intersection of Christianity and homosexuality. Some notable LGBT Catholics are or were priests or nuns, such as McNeill, Virginia Apuzzo, and Jean O'Leary, who was a Roman Catholic religious sister before becoming a lesbian and gay rights activist.

• Allen, John L. (30 May 2013). The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-997510-5. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
• Boswell, John (1980). Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Jung, Patricia Beattie (2007). "The Roman Catholic Tradition". In Siker, Jeffrey S. (ed.). Homosexuality and Religion: An Encyclopedia. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing. pp. 191–200. ISBN 978-0313330889. OCLC 803676004.

• Berger, David (November 2010). Der heilige Schein. ISBN 978-3-550-08855-1.
• Cameli, L.J. (2012). Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality: New Paths to Understanding. Ave Maria Press. ISBN 978-1-59471-348-4.
• Guimara̋es, Atila Sinke (December 1999). The Catholic Church and homosexuality. TAN Books. ISBN 978-0-89555-651-6.
• Saunders, Kate; Peter Stanford (6 April 1992). Catholics and sex. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-434-67246-2.
• Stuart, Elizabeth (July 1993). Chosen: Gay Catholic Priests Tell Their Stories. Geoffrey Chapman. ISBN 978-0-225-66682-3.
• Tushnet, Eve (2014). Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith. ISBN 978-1594715426.
• Zanotti, Barbara, ed. (1986). A Faith of One's Own: Explorations by Catholic Lesbians. Crossing Press. ISBN 978-0895942098. catholic lesbians.

• Why Marriage Matters: A Statement of the Irish Bishops' Conference on the Civil Partnership Bill
• Christian Anthropology and Homosexuality