Catholic Church and homosexuality
However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes that all same-sex individuals must "be accepted and treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity," and that all forms of unjust discrimination should be discouraged and avoided at all cost.
Catholic dissenters have argued that legally consensual relations between people of the same-sex is as inherently spiritual and valuable as the same for those of the opposite-sex.
[15] 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.
"[15] 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.
[27][28][29] Nevertheless, Pope Francis expressed support for civil-unions to protect gay couples in the documentary Francesco (2020),[4] and in a press conference in September 2021.
[33] On 18 December 2023, it published Fiducia supplicans, a declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless people who are not considered to be married by the Church, including same-sex couples.
[33] On 25 September 2023, in a responsum to conservative cardinals before the 16th World Synod of Bishops, Francis signalled the Church's openness to blessings for gay couples as long as they did not misrepresent the Catholic view of marriage as between one man and one woman.
[38][39][40] While the declaration was welcomed by many Catholics,[41] it also sparked considerable controversy and criticism,[42][43] with several bishops' conferences barring the blessings in their jurisdictions or asking priests to refrain from them.
[50] Initially, canons against sodomy were aimed at ensuring clerical or monastic discipline, and were only widened in the medieval period to include laymen.
[51] In the Summa Theologica, Saint Thomas Aquinas maintained that homosexual practice was contrary to natural law, arguing that the primary natural end of the sexual act was procreation, and since said procreation is carried out from a process of sexual fertilization between a man and a woman, homosexuality is contrary to the very end of said act.
[58] In October 1986, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a letter addressed to all the bishops of the Catholic Church entitled On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.
[57] Designed to remove any ambiguity about permissible tolerance of homosexual orientation resulting from the earlier Persona Humana—and prompted by the growing influence of gay-accepting groups and clergy—the letter was particularly aimed at the church in the United States.
[60]: 201 [62]: 223 [63] This alluded to LGBT and LGBT-accepting Catholic groups such as DignityUSA and New Ways Ministry,[60]: 201 and ultimately resulted in the exclusion of Dignity from Church property.
[57][68] Referring to the AIDS epidemic,[69][70] the letter, McNeill writes, blamed AIDS on gay rights activists and gay-accepting mental health professionals:[68] "Even when the practice of homosexuality may seriously threaten the lives and well-being of a large number of people, its advocates remain undeterred and refuse to consider the magnitude of the risks involved".
[63] In a statement released in July 1992, "Some Considerations Concerning the Catholic Response to Legislative Proposals on the Non-Discrimination of Homosexual Persons," the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reiterated its position from "On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons," and further stated that discrimination against gay people in certain areas, such as selecting adoptive or foster parents or in hiring teachers, coaches, or military service members, is not unjust, and thus can be permitted in some circumstances.
[19] On 31 October 2023, a document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, responding to questions from José Negri, Bishop of Santo Amaro, said that transgender people could be baptised, be godparents at a baptism, and be witnesses at weddings, so long as such situations would not cause scandal.
Reiterating the church's opposition to homosexuality, it told parents not to break off contact with a gay or bisexual son or daughter; they should instead look for appropriate counseling both for the child and for themselves.
[76][77]: 131 Gay Catholics, the bishops said, should be allowed to participate actively in the Christian community and, if living chastely, hold leadership positions.
[76][78][79] 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.
[103] Upwards of 70 people have been fired from jobs at Catholic schools or universities because of their marriages to partners of the same sex[81][104][105][106][107] or, in one case, support for LGBT rights campaigns.
[120] On 9 September 2022, over 80% of German bishops at the Synodal Path supported a document calling for a "re-evaluation of homosexuality" and for making changes to the Catechism.
[126][127][128] 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.
[129] 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.
[133] 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.
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 church therefore opposes the extension of at least some aspects of civil rights legislation, such as nondiscrimination in public housing,[146] educational or athletic employment,[146] adoption,[146][147] or military recruitment,[146][148] to gay men and lesbians.
[46][149][19][150] 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.
Writers such as Oscar Wilde,[151] Lord Alfred Douglas, Marc-André Raffalovich, and Frederick Rolfe,[151][152] and artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Andy Warhol[153][154] were influenced by both their Catholicism and their homosexuality.
