There is no doubt that homosexuality has become a household term and the danger it poses in our modern world cannot be overemphasized. Over the years, it has come to receive wide recognition that is far too dangerous to our traditional beliefs and values. It is important to establish that as human beings, there are some institutions that we have come to accept as our pillars of truths and these are culture and religion. The Church equally tells us that the contents of her doctrines, teachings and values are hinged on what has been laid down for her in the scriptures, tradition and the Magisterium (teaching office) of the Church. This means that despite what the world promotes, we are to be guided by the contents of the scriptures, the sacred tradition of the Church and her teaching office.

To start with, one of the things established in the first book of the Bible is the creation of human beings and this comes with specific details in the form of "God created man in his image...male and female he created them." (cf. Gen. 1:27). Furthermore, God established a command that man should be "fruitful and multiply" (vs. 28), still further, that a man would leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two will become one (2:24) - Adam and Eve not Adam and Adam or Eve and Eve. In other words, God established the institution of marriage which is ordered at companionship and procreation; these are well induced.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) no. 2332 says that sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others. Without any doubt, culture does not take a different route as far as this venture is concerned, there seems to be a friendly correlation of ideas and values with the stance of the Church. However, in recent times, there seems to be an uprising of a counter-view that continues to put man at variance with what nature teaches us.

The overemphasis on man's unique freedom has become the foundation for these counterviews. One of such is HOMOSEXUALITY. Simply put Homosexuality "refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction towards persons of the same sex." (cf. CCC no. 2357). This has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures which we do not attempt to delve into. One thing is however for sure and that is the fact that the psychological genesis of this orientation remains largely unexplained. As was noted at the start, nature and religion allow only a man and a woman to engage in conjugal love. There is no natural or religious basis for an attraction to one of the same sex, which is why it is tagged a psychological affair which sadly has not been established either.

 

Taking a walk through the pages of the scriptures, we see that homosexual acts have been presented as acts of grave depravity, a stance that tradition has tenaciously corroborated over the years, noting that they are intrinsically disordered. This is not far-fetched because they are contrary to natural law, they close the sexual act to the gift of life and they do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Genesis 19:1-29 narrates the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah on account of their wickedness and immorality. In Romans 1:24-27, St. Paul identified how men gave up natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. St. Paul was somewhat emphatic in 1Cor. 6:9-10 when He says that persons caught up in this would not inherit the kingdom of God. (cf. 1Tim. 1:10).

From the foregoing, a clear inference can be drawn and that is the fact that nothing of our religious or cultural pillars support this orientation, hence, they cannot be approved under any circumstances. It is crystal clear that this is the stance of the Church but we must take caution nevertheless on how homosexuals are treated. Yes, the acts are disapproved but not the persons. The Church recognizes that we cannot neglect this tendency as it is deep-seated in a good number of men and women, and they are becoming unapologetic about it these days. Yet, the Church recognizes the fact that this disordered inclination constitutes for most of them a trial which is why they "must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided" (cf. CCC no. 2358).  The Church states that these persons are called to fulfil God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross despite the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by the prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection. (cf. CCC no. 2359).  The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in a document approved by Pope Francis, said that the Church cannot bless same-sex relationships because "God cannot bless sin", while also stating that the non-sexual aspect of the personal relationships between such people may have "positive elements".

The Church provides pastoral care for LGBT Catholics through a variety of official and unofficial channels that vary from Diocese to Diocese, and senior Clergy and Popes have recently begun to call for the Church to do more. In many parts of the world, the Church is active politically on issues of LGBT rights. The relationship between the Catholic Church and the LGBT community has been a difficult one, especially during the height of the AIDS crisis, and World War II Nazi Germany. In other words, the Church recognizes the disordered nature of homosexuality and she unapologetically objects to any orientation of such. However, like Christ the leader of the Church, she continues to welcome all in love, patience and compassion so that these people may come to experience how much their lives matter to God and the community and that they may be moved to sincere conversion and healing as the case may be. Jesus' public ministry was quite a unique one; one that deviated sharply from the conventional, little wonder He was misconstrued and rejected. His attention was on those rejected by society; the sinners, the less important, the vulnerable, the sick etc. His identification with sinners will earn him a confrontation and He would state unequivocally that He has come not for the righteous but for sinners. This is the basis for the attitude of the Church towards homosexuals, while she outrightly objects to this orientation as one, not in line with nature, she offers yet a loving hand.

In other words, she condemns the act but not the person. If Jesus does not condemn us who are we to condemn others? Our task is to continue to speak against what stands against the gospel but never to condemn people and write them off.