Catholic Sexual Teaching
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All Catholic teaching on sexual morality is based on the idea that sex is:
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Reserved for marriage.
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Procreative (open to the creation of new life) and prounitive (expresses the couple’s
love for each other and strengthens their relationship).
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How important is unity in the Catholic understanding of sexuality?
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Jesus teaches that in marriage, the “two become one” and “what God has joined, no man may
separate”, which is why the
Church takes a very strong position
against divorce. (Annulments mean
a valid marriage never occurred.)
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Although creating a new life is not the intention of every sex act in a marriage, it must be OPEN
to the POSSIBILITY.
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This is why the Church opposes birth control (which artificially prevents conception), but allows
NFP.
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NFP is a method of birth control in which the couple avoids intercourse when the
woman is most fertile.
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Birth control is probably the issue more Catholics disagree with the hierarchy about than
any other.
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Pope Paul VI famously forbade birth control in Humanae Vitae.
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The commission he set up to study this had recommended at least some forms of birth
control might be acceptable.
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How some birth control methods work:
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The pill prevents ovulation the vast majority of the time, but if it fails in this
regard, it can also prevent implantation of the young fetus.
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The “Morning After Pill”/“Plan B”/Emergency Contraception is more likely to
prevent implantation, rather than ovulation, compared to the birth control pill.
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RU-486/Mifeprisone is the abortion pill and is definitely used to kill a fetus in
the first few months of a pregnancy.
Forncation
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The Church (and Scripture) do not allow sex before marriage.
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This is very rarely open to new life and often based more on pleasure than love.
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We believe that a child deserves a family, so a couple should wait till they can start a family.
Cohabitation
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Since sex is reserved for marriage, living together is also reserved for this state of your life.
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If nothing else, living together would put you in constant temptation of fornication (although,
this would almost always be happening anyway.)
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Thos who live together before marriage actually have a much HIGHER rate of divorce.
Homosexuality
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Homosexuality is a feeling that someone DOES NOT CHOOSE.
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The Church does NOT condemn someone for having these FEELINGS, but it also does not
condone homosexual ACTIVITY.
Why people disagree
so strongly
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One side sees it as a justice issue,
involving human rights, equality.
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It is seen as wrong to deny one sector
what the other enjoys.
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One the other hand, this is behavior
consistently condemned in OT, NT, and
Church Tradition.
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Those who take the more conservative
position see their opponents as denying
God’s role in Scripture, Tradition, etc.