Catholic theology of sexuality

Since the time of the church fathers, the church has believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary.[41] In the Litany of Loreto Mary is called the virgin of virgins and queen of virgins.[42] Mary's chastity is considered an example for all Christians to follow by the church.[43][44]

The Catholic Church defines chastity as the virtue that moderates the sexual appetite.[45][46] It refers to the successful integration of sexuality within the person.[47] Everyone is called to chastity.[6] Unmarried Catholics express chastity through sexual abstinence. Sexual intercourse within marriage is considered chaste when it retains the twofold significance of union and procreation.[48] Pope John Paul II wrote:

At the center of the spirituality of marriage, therefore, there lies chastity not only as a moral virtue (formed by love), but likewise as a virtue connected with the gifts of the Holy Spirit—above all, the gift of respect for what comes from God (donum pietatis). This gift is in the mind of the author of the Ephesians when he exhorts married couples to "defer to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Eph 5:21). So the interior order of married life, which enables the manifestations of affection to develop according to their right proportion and meaning, is a fruit not only of the virtue which the couple practice, but also of the gifts of the Holy Spirit with which they cooperate.[49]

Marriage is a sacrament, and a public commitment between a man and a woman.[50] Marriage builds the family and the society.[6] The Church considers the expression of love between husband and wife to be an elevated form of human activity, joining husband and wife in complete, mutual self-giving, and opening their relationship to new life. As Pope Paul VI wrote in Humanae vitae, "The sexual activity, in which husband and wife are intimately and chastely united with one another, through which human life is transmitted, is, as the recent Council recalled, 'noble and worthy.'"[51]

Much of the Church's detailed doctrines derive from the principle that "sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive [between spouses] purposes".[52] At the same time, the Bishops at Vatican II decreed that the essential procreative end of marriage does not make "the other purposes of matrimony of less account."[53]

Because sex is considered chaste only within context of marriage, it has come to be called the "nuptial act" in Catholic discourse. Among Catholics, the nuptial act is considered to be the conjoining of a man and a woman through sexual intercourse, considered an act of love between two married persons, and is considered in this way, a gift from God. When discussing chastity, the Catechism lists several transgressions and sins against it.[54]

The Church holds that the legal separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law.[55]

One of the ten commandments states: "Do not commit adultery".[56]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that two partners commit adultery when they have sexual relations, even transient ones, while at least one of them is married to another party. There, adultery is defined as an injustice because it is an injury of the covenant of the marriage bond, a transgression of the other spouse, an undermining of the institution of marriage and a compromising of the welfare of children who need their parents' stable union.[57]

Incest and child sex abuse are counted as sins in the church's catechism in paragraphs 2388–2389.[58]

The Church has been opposed to contraception for as far back as one can historically trace.[59][60] Many early Catholic Church Fathers made statements condemning the use of contraception including John Chrysostom, Jerome, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus of Rome, Augustine of Hippo and various others.[61][62][63] Among the condemnations is one by Jerome which refers to an apparent oral form of contraception: "Some go so far as to take potions, that they may insure barrenness, and thus murder human beings almost before their conception."[64] The Catechism specifies that all marriage acts must be both unitive and procreative.[65] In addition to condemning use of artificial birth control as intrinsically evil,[66] non-procreative sex acts such as mutual masturbation and anal sex are ruled out as ways to avoid pregnancy.[67]

Pope Paul VI, rejecting the majority report of the 1963–66 Pontifical Commission on Birth Control, confirmed the Catholic Church's traditional teaching on contraception, defined as "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible",[68] declaring it evil, and excluded. Prohibited acts with contraceptive effect include sterilization, condoms and other barrier methods, spermicides, coitus interruptus (withdrawal method), the Pill, and all other such methods.[69] Restricting sexual activity to times when conception is unlikely (natural family planning and similar practices) is not deemed sinful.[70] The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the spacing of births may be practiced for "just reasons" and not "motivated by selfishness".[71]

John Paul II said in Familiaris consortio,

Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality.... the difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality.[72]

In January 2015, during his return flight from a visit to the Philippines, Pope Francis was asked by a German journalist for his thoughts on the findings of some polls that most Filipinos think the population growth in the country, with each woman having on average three children, is one of the chief reasons for its poverty, and that many there disagree with Catholic teaching on contraception. He replied that the key is "responsible parenthood":

Some people think that—excuse my expression here—that in order to be good Catholics we have to be like rabbits. No. Responsible parenthood. This is clear and that is why in the Church there are marriage groups, there are experts in this matter, there are pastors, one can search; and I know so many ways that are licit and that have helped this.[73]

He also said that Pope Paul VI's teaching was prophetic, in view of the drop of the birth rate in some countries to little more than one child per woman.[74]

The Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result therefrom, so long as the contraceptive effect is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.[75] For example, the use of female steroid hormones as treatment for endometriosis rather than with contraceptive intent is not considered to conflict in any way with Catholic teaching.[76] Moral theologians call this the principle of double effect.[77]

The use of condoms to prevent disease is a more controversial and more complex issue, with theologians arguing both sides.[78][79][80] Unlike drugs and surgical procedures, the Church's position as of 2013 was that using condoms during sex, for any purpose, is morally contraceptive and thus a sin.

Issues surrounding the Catholic Church and AIDS became highly controversial since 1990, primarily because many prominent Catholic leaders publicly declared their opposition to the use of condoms as a disease preventative. Other issues involve religious participation in global health care services and collaboration with secular organizations such as UNAIDS and the World Health Organization.

In November 2010 Pope Benedict said that it was a responsible act, though still not a truly moral solution, to use condoms in some very special cases as a device for the prevention of disease. He gave male prostitutes as an example, where the purpose is to "reduce the risk of infection" from HIV.[81] While still believing that contraceptive devices interfere with the creation of life, the Pope stated that in that particular case, it can be a responsible act to raise awareness of the nature of such an act, and as a benefit, to avoid death and save life, though only as a first step, not a truly moral solution, before convincing the male prostitute of a truly moral solution, which means ceasing prostitution and sexual activity outside of marriage. There was some confusion at first whether the statement applied only to homosexual prostitutes and thus not to heterosexual intercourse at all. However, Federico Lombardi, spokesman of the Vatican, clarified that it applied to heterosexual and transsexual prostitutes, both male and female, as well.[82] He also clarified that, in the interview, the Pope did not reverse the Church's centuries-old prohibition on contraceptive use in the context of heterosexual sexual acts, which the Church states must always be open to the transmission of life,[81] and that he did not reverse his positions on homosexual acts and prostitution either.

In Christianity, and in the Catholic Church in particular, opinion was divided on how serious abortion was in comparison with such acts as contraception, oral sex, and sex in marriage for pleasure rather than procreation;[83]^{: 155–167} and the Catholic Church did not begin vigorously opposing abortion until the 19th century.[84] However, as early as ~100 A.D. the Didache taught that abortion was sinful.[85] Several historians have written that prior to the 19th century most Catholic authors did not regard termination of pregnancy before "quickening" or "ensoulment" as an abortion.[86][87][23] Among these authors were the Doctors of the Church: St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Alphonsus Liguori. Pope Sixtus V (1585–90) was the only Pope before Pope Pius IX (in his 1869 bull, Apostolicae Sedis) to institute a Church policy labeling all abortion as homicide and condemning abortion regardless of the stage of pregnancy.[88][83]^{: 362–364} [89]^{: 157–158} In fact, Sixtus' pronouncement of 1588 was reversed three years later by Pope Gregory XIV.[90] In the recodification of Canon Law in 1917, Apostolicae Sedis was strengthened, in part to remove a possible reading that excluded excommunication of the mother.[91] Statements made in 1992 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II, the codified summary of the current Church's teachings, considered abortion from the moment of conception as homicide and called for the end of legal abortion.[92]

The Catholic Church disapproves of fornication (sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other), calling it "gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality".[93]

The Catechism devotes a separate section to homosexuality within its explanation of the sixth commandment. The Church distinguishes between "homosexual attractions", which are not considered sinful, and "homosexual acts", which are considered sinful. Like all heterosexual acts outside of marriage, homosexual acts are considered sins against this commandment. The Catechism states that they "violate natural law, cannot bring forth life, and do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved."[94][95][96] The Church teaches that a homosexual inclination is "objectively disordered" and can be a great trial for the person for whom the Church teaches must be "accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity ... unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided."[94][97][96]

The homosexual person is, according to the Church, "called to chastity". They are instructed to practice the virtues of "self-mastery" that teaches "inner freedom" using the support of friends, prayer and grace found in the sacraments of the Church.[94] These tools are meant to help the homosexually inclined person to "gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection", which is a state to which all Christians are called.[94]

On 26 August 2018, Pope Francis said in Ireland that homosexual people have existed throughout the entire history of Man. He teaches Catholic parents to talk with their homosexual children and that they are part of their families and should not be "thrown out" of the family.[98] On 27 August 2018 a press statement by Pope Francis declared that homosexuality is not an illness.[99][100][101]

In Catholic theology, lust is considered to be an excessive, that is, irrational, attachment to venereal pleasure.[102] It is considered as one of the seven capital sins, and its opposing virtue is chastity.[102] The Catholic Church disapproves of lust: "Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes".[52]

The biblical quote "But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."^{[Matthew 5:28]}, is considered as proof that the sins which emanate from lust can be both external and internal.[103]

The Catholic Church disapproves of masturbation.[104] Thomas Aquinas, one of the most prominent Doctors of the Catholic Church, wrote that masturbation was an "unnatural vice" which is a species of lust", but that it is a less serious form than bestiality, which is "the most serious", and than sodomy, which is the next most serious:[105] "By procuring pollution [i.e., ejaculation apart from intercourse], without any copulation, for the sake of venereal pleasure ... pertains to the sin of 'uncleanness' which some call 'effeminacy' [Latin: mollitiem, lit. 'softness, unmanliness']."[106]

More recently, from the Youcat:

409 Masturbation is an offense against love, because it makes the excitement of sexual pleasure an end in itself and uncouples it from the holistic unfolding of love between a man and a woman. That is why "sex with yourself" is a contradiction in terms. The Church does not demonize masturbation, but she warns against trivializing it. In fact many young people and adults are in danger of becoming isolated in their consumption of lewd pictures, films, and Internet services instead of finding love in a personal relationship. Loneliness can lead to a blind alley in which masturbation becomes an addiction. Living by the motto "For sex I do not need anyone; I will have it myself, however and whenever I need it" makes nobody happy.[107]

According to Catholic Church teaching, "to form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other psychological or social factors that lessen or even extenuate moral culpability."[104]

The Catholic Church disapproves of pornography and says that civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.[108]

The Catholic Church condemns prostitution as a societal vice.[109] Both St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine agreed in condemning prostitution as sinful. However, they defended the legal protection of prostitution by even Catholic monarchies lest it cause society to collapse.[110][111]

The Catholic Church condemns rape as "always an intrinsically evil act."[112] The Magisterium allows women the prudential use of Plan B by rape victims to prevent pregnancy.[113]