Nov 17 Tue
Are homosexual persons too called to chastity?
Catholic teaching holds that all people, including homosexual persons, are called to chastity. This call is a growth in self-mastery and holiness, supported by prayer, friendship, and grace.
As we know, homosexuality (male or female) is an attraction, exclusive or predominant, towards persons of the same sex. It can stem from many factors, including the person’s psychological characteristics and biography. “The tradition of the Church has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They close the sexual act to the gift of life” (Catechism, 2357).
“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This objectively disordered inclination constitutes for most of them 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” (Catechism, 2358).
The apostolic exhortation ‘Amoris Laetitia’ underlines Christ’s unconditional love for all people without exception, and reiterates that “every person, regardless of his or her sexual orientation, must be respected in his or her dignity and welcomed with respect, taking care to avoid ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ (Catechism, 2358) and particularly every form of aggression and violence.” Families too are specifically asked to “ensure respectful accompaniment, so that those who manifest a homosexual tendency can count on the necessary help to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives” (cf. Catechism, 277).
Moreover, the Church reminds people that “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, 2359). Hence the call to chastity addressed to all Christians also reaches them.
Concerning the alleged equating of homosexual unions with marriage, the Church’s teaching recalls that “there is no basis for assimilating or establishing analogies, even remote ones, between homosexual unions and God’s plan for marriage and the family” (Amoris Laetitia, 251). This is not a prohibition by the Church or the imposition of a punitive measure. It is a question of pointing out that these unions cannot be equated with a conjugal union, nor is it fair to attribute the same effects to them: because in this case there is no conjugality (which requires the differential relationship of the sexes), nor can those who live together constitute a common principle of generation.