Is the church homophobic?

To begin to answer this question I’d like to turn to exactly what the Church teaches about homosexuality. “Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. 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 the 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. The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, 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 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. 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.” (CCC 2537-2539).

Ok. Now that we are through that…splurge of Church teaching lets discuss the actual question. Is the Church homophobic? No. At least if you are using the Webster dictionary definition. It’s not that we hate gay people but that we see a series of inherent disorders proceeding from such a lifestyle. In fact, to say we “hate” homosexuals would be contrary to charity and thus contrary to Christ (CCC 2303). The Catholic stance on charity can be best summed up by St. Augustine which said  “With love for mankind and hatred for sins.”  (St. Augustine’s Letter 112). We don’t hate LGBT. We hate the corruption that these relationships lead to.                      Please note that these issues are based on a Catholic point of view. While there can be a level of discussion with those who accept the bible as scripture if they do not agree these arguments do not work as much in the secular framework as they rely on a biblical framework. If I were to have a dialog starting from a secular viewpoint we would have to prove that outside of scripture homosexuality in inherently disordered. This is impossible as we would lose an objective analysis of marriage and the sexual union reducing it to simply “I feel” statements. 

        There are three main corruptions present in homosexuality that I will discuss as they are the most prevalent. They are corruption of self-image, corruption of marriage, and corruption of the sexual union.

Firstly, the corruption of self-image. This is something that is more prevalent in trans-sexuals. This type of corruption is where a man wants to be a woman or vice versa. However, as the bible tells us “And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27). God created us how he intended us to be. How can we say God was wrong? Your sex and body isn’t something to be shamed and changed. It is something to be celebrated. God made you…well you and the Church thinks that is amazing. That the church created you as male or female just the way you are. Yet, many people say God didn’t make them right. God made them the wrong sex. So they mutilate their bodies to try to match their preferred image rather than celebrate Gods image.

The second corruption is that of marriage. As the Bible states marriage is a sacramental joining between a man and woman. “Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24). The attraction that homosexuals feel isn’t in itself evil. Love is never evil. However, marriage was instituted towards the end that the spouses could become one flesh. “Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator’s eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: “And God blessed them, and God said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.”” (CCC 1604). There is an intimacy that is present in a relationship between a man and a woman that cannot be in a relationship between two of the same sex. They cannot truly become one flesh as that requires a completeness in the sexual union that leads us up to the final corruption.

        The corruption of the sexual union. In the sexual union when a man and woman become “one flesh” as Genesis puts it we open up ourselves to not so much the only end of marriage but the ultimate end of marriage. The end in which marriage finds its ultimate purpose for its existence. That is the openness to and procreation of life. This union is the one in which we serve God’s ultimate purpose of marriage to be fruitful and multiply. In a homosexual marriage the couple cannot enter into this union and the marriage fails to be open to life.

        So in conclusion, no the church is not homophobic. That being said homosexual acts are recognized as leading to corruption against both self dignity, conjugal dignity, and dignity in the sexual union.

Author: Thomas Rowell-Bryant