What The Vatican Saysabout Homosexuals and HomosexualityWe will not here delve into historical or biblical doctrines, as they are irrelevant to the modern situation. We shall refer to the CURRENT teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The documents which are referenced are available through RC Bookshops (such as the St Paul's Book and Media Centre in Sydney and elsewhere), and on the internet from the Vatican and other sources. I have made a list of links so you can check that I am not misquoting, and can read the whole documents yourself. References will be quoted with paragraph or section numbers, rather than page numbers, to facilitate finding the right place in on-line texts. So {4}[2352] refers to the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' Part Three, Chapter Two, Article 6, Section II, Paragraph 2352 on page 564 of my copy (which discusses the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure). These documents are all issued from the highest level in the Vatican : The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - which is the name now used by the office that was (until a few decades ago) The Inquisition. ReferencesThe ISBN refers to the edition published by the Daughters of St PaulHere we refer to the Church, meaning the Roman Catholic Church. The doctrine is laid down by The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), at the time headed by Joseph Ratzinger (Cardinal); it would seem that the Pope is subject to control by the CDF. But now we find that "Ratzy" (as we fondly call him) has had a promotion to - "Pope Benny the Dick, Head of the Roman Catholic Church". ChastityMuch of the doctrine on homosexual activity relies on the doctrine of ''chastity'' and ''fornication''. Fornication is defined as ''the carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman'' {4}[2353]. I think that they intend to include also married men and women when they are not married to each other. Thus fornication, in its broad sense, is ''sex outside marriage'' and would be thought by many to include homosexual sex.The doctrine states that ''the deliberate use of the sexual faculty outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose'' {4}[2352] and {1}[9]. The Church recognizes two purposes for sexual pleasure - procreative and unitive {4}[2351]. Infertile married couples are still permitted to mutually gain sexual pleasure without being guilty of a sin. One would think, then, that if the Church did allow homosexuals to marry then the sexual pleasure would be permitted for the unitive purpose. Unfortunately the Church applies a double standard here and declares homosexual relations ''contrary to natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life'' {4}[2357]. Because homosexuals can't procreate, they must not unite. No matter whatever else the doctrine says ''Homosexual persons are called to chastity'' {4}[2359] - that is absitnence or celibacy. EvilHomosexuals are expected to live chaste (effectively celibate) lives, but does this make celibate homosexuals OK with the Church. The answer is a resounding NO. The declaration Persona Humana made the distinction between homosexual acts (which were condemned) and the homosexual condition. In the latter, two groups were identified - those whose homosexuality was innate and unchangeable, and those whose homosexuality was learned and was possibly changeable {1}[VIII]. Although rejecting the ''life and love analogous to marriage'' for the former category the Declaration urged compassion. It quoted scriptures to ''attest to the fact that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved of''.Some years later, it perceived that some people were treating homosexuals with too much compassion ''an overly benign interpretation was given to the homosexual condition itself, some going so far as to call it neutral, or even good''{2}[3], and advancing notions that homosexuals may have rights. So the Church declared that ''Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.'' {2}[3]. Thus even celibate homosexuals were considered to be disordered, evil. They were very upset that new interpretations of the Scriptures have ''nothing to say on the subject of homosexuality, or that it somehow tacitly approves of it'' {2}[4]. This was summarily squashed by the declaration ''To be correct, the interpretation of Scripture must be in substantial accord with [the Church's living] Tradition''' {2}[5], that is, no matter what the Bible says, the Church must condemn homosexual activity. So, for a homosexual in the Church, even a celibate life free from the sins of fornication is condemned as disordered. Outside the ChurchThe Church recognises that ''The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition;'' {4}[2358] and discriminates against them within its membership. It is not for us to dictate to another religious group on its internal regulations (no matter how distasteful they are) but the Church does not restrict its discrimination to its own members.Although it explicitly acknowledges (unlike some protestant religions) that homosexuality is not a choice and sexual orientation is not changeable, it still denies the rights of homosexuals as it claims that homosexuality (unlike race) is an ''objective disorder'' {3}[10]. Furthermore it states (without any attempt at justification) that discrimination is justified, inter alia, in military recruitment {3}[11]. It gives as a justification for denial of rights by the state ''to protect the common good'' and considers homosexuals in the same category as ''contagious or mentally ill persons'' {3}[12]. And further ''there is no right to homosexuality'' {3}[13] presumably unlike other un-chosen conditions like race, disability and gender, to which people have a right! The Church does have a solution to the problem of discrimination against homosexuals - stay in the 'closet' - ''An individual's sexual orientation is generally not known to others unless he publicly identifies himself as having this orientation or unless some overt behavior manifests it.'' {3}[14]. This suits them even more, as it is these 'out' homosexuals who call for anti-discrimination laws. So, in effect, if you are 'out' you have brought the discrimination on yourself and don't deserve protection. And, even if the Church is exempt form such anti-discrimination laws (and still permitted to discriminate inside its membership), it claims the ''responsibility to promote the public morality of the entire civil society on the basis of fundamental moral values'' {3}[16]. Unfortunately, these ''fundamental moral values'' are not those of society at large, but those narrow self-righteous values set up by this bigoted Church to further its own ends. ViolenceIf it is no problem to deny homosexuals employment, housing, medical benefits, etc ''to defend and promote family life'' {3}[9], what about beating them up and killing them for the same reason? The Church, unlike some of its protestant counterparts, does not come right out and say that this is acceptable. It says ''It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action'' {2}[10].However, ''when civil legislation is introduced to protect behavior to which no one has any conceivable right'' (when you seek protection from the law) it should be no surprise that ''irrational and violent reactions increase'' {2}[10]. So, clearly, you bring it on yourself. SummaryIf you are homosexual (a condition which you did not choose and which is incurable {1}[VIII]) your condition is immoral. So, to protect the ''common good'', you are to be treated as ''contagious or mentally ill'' people {3}[12] and denied anti-discrimination protection (which would not be needed unless you are publicly known as a homosexual {3}[14]). And because of this, and your totally unjustified claim for civil rights, you can expect to be the target of violence {2}[10].Links to the referencesThey are (theoretically) available at the Vatican website, but I find that hell freezes over before I can get much from their site.At least two sites have the documents (except the full ''Catechism'') on one site : |
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Version 3.00 : 30 June, 2006.