The Catholic Church is often misunderstood and misquoted in terms of its teachings of faith and morals. Many of the Catholic faith myths come from a lack of willingness to pursue the truth about what the Church teaches. It is easier for some to take one thing out of context and use it as “proof” that the myth is true rather than do the research and study necessary to understand the Church’s teaching on a specific subject fully. They can be willing to do the analysis, correctly quote what the Church teaches, and still disagree based upon their opinion. In and of itself, that is not a problem. The problem occurs when they ignore the teaching because it is necessary to support their opinion as truth. We cannot change scripture or alter the words of Jesus simply because they may be difficult to hear, uncomfortable, or contrary to the way we think things should be.

An example of one of those myths is what the Church teaches regarding homosexuality.  Many think that the Catholic Church teaches that all homosexuals automatically are condemned to hell. That is simply false. The actual teaching of the Church is honest, loving, and compassionate. It is virtually the same teaching for those who are divorced and remarried without receiving a Decree of Nullity, but rarely is that parallel drawn because it is not convenient to the argument about the “uncompromising rigidity” that, for whatever reason, people need to assign to the Church.

We must begin at the beginning. God’s creation involves a natural order, including the creation of the human forms of male and female for the purpose of bonding and procreation. It is hard to argue that the design of the male and female are naturally ordered toward the creative process. Throughout scripture, we see evidence of the destructive nature of a practiced sexual lifestyle outside of the natural order. Examples are found in Genesis 19:1-29, Romans 1:24-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and 1 Timothy 1:5-10. Before that, we see that God created man and woman and commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply”. Man and woman were given a role in God’s creative process.  In Matthew 19:1-6, Jesus refers to and uses the exact language of Genesis when explaining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

In keeping with a parallel path as it relates to teaching of sexual immorality of heterosexuals, we simply must look at the same scripture in Matthew 19, but verses 7-9. This is a very difficult teaching from Christ, but he is clear that if a man or woman divorces their spouse and remarries without proving the first marriage was unlawful (thus the need for the Decree of Nullity), then they are committing adultery, which is a mortal sin.  What Jesus is saying is that sexual immorality is a mortal sin regardless of how it is committed, either in a homosexual or heterosexual context.

So, does the Church condemn a homosexual simply for being homosexual? Does the Church condemn a divorce heterosexual simply for being divorced? The answer in both cases is NO.  With that said, if either of those situations involve practicing sexual behavior outside of a valid Christian marriage, then using Christ’s own words, a mortal sin would be committed. Just as the divorced person without a Decree of Nullity must remain chaste, so must a homosexual if they want to avoid mortal sin. There are many chaste Catholic homosexuals who use their chastity to develop a deeper relationship with God.

To further clarify, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in Paragraphs 2357-2359 clearly acknowledges that the origin of the underlying factors of a person being attracted to the same sex is unknown, but it is also very real and should be acknowledged. While they are called to chastity in the same way that a divorced heterosexual is called to chastity, the Church is clear on its teachings regarding the human being. To quote from 2358 “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination must be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives…”  In other words, the Church does not teach that they should not be homosexual, but it does teach that they should live a chaste lifestyle. Most anti-Catholic arguments do not refer to this teaching from the Catechism because it directly negates their opinion of the way things should be rather than the things revealed by Christ. The desires of either the homosexual or divorced heterosexual are not sins. It is the acting on those desires that creates the sin.  If they can avoid that, then all are welcome into the Church and are able to participate in all the Sacraments of the Church and receive the Sacramental graces offered to everyone.