Alexandra Parady

December 1, 2013
SLA 150 08
Faith, Religion, and Society
Crossen

Catholic Social Teaching and Homosexuality

Homosexuality is when a person is attracted to someone of their
own sex, such as a man being attracted to only men or a woman being
attracted to only women. People do no choose to be homosexual.
Someone does not decide one day that being homosexual lifestyle for
them. People are born a certain was and do not choose the gender
they are attracted to and cannot help the way they are.
The issue Im discussing is the Catholic Churchs stand on
homosexuality. Multitudes of people believe that being homosexual is
immoral and sinful because of their religious affiliations. Often, there
are Catholic and Christian people in contradiction of homosexuality due
to certain lines portrayed in the Bible. Some of the lines people will
often claim tell them that homosexuality is wrong and sinful are lines
such as Leviticus 18:22, which says You shall not lie with a male as

with a woman; it is an abomination and Leviticus 20:13 that says If a

man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed
an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon
them. Some people openly hate on other people for their sexuality
and will go as far as to have anti-gay rallies. People can get violent and
do horrible things to homosexuals due to their sexuality. The things
some radically religious people do affect the observations and
preconceptions that some people have on the Catholic Church and its
teachings, and not all religious people actually act this way.
The way these people treat gay people does not follow many
sources of the Catholic Social Teaching sources. It breaks the first
source of Catholic Social Teaching, which states that every human
being is a person, that is, his nature is endowed with intelligence and
free will. Indeed, precisely because he is a person he has rights and
obligations flowing directly and simultaneously from his very nature .
Some people believe that homosexuals do not count as people and do
not deserve to be treated as straight people are treated. Another one
this breaks sometimes is pacifism. Some radical Christians can become

violent toward others due to their sexuality, as they dont see

homosexuals as good of people as they are.
In Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of
Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers on the
official United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website, they
explain how the Catholic Church reacts to and treats homosexual
children and how they teach families to deal with having a homosexual
child. We draw upon the gift of faith as well as the sound teaching
and pastoral practice of the Church to offer loving support, reliable
guidance, and recommendations for ministries suited to your needs
and to those of your child (Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to
Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers,
USCCB, 1997). The church tries acting this way toward the parents of
homosexual children when heir child comes out as gay or if the parents
believe their child might be gay. They encourage people to accept
themselves as well as accept their child as who they are. After all, not
matter how some act, God does not love someone any less simply
because he or she is homosexual. God's love is always and everywhere
offered to those who are open to receiving it (Always Our Children: A

Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions

for Pastoral Ministers, USCCB, 1997).
In the article previously mentioned, Always Our Children, they
talk through different ways for a parent to accept themselves and well
as ways for them to accept their homosexual child. They go through a
list of different emotions that a parent may go through during this time
as well as tell parents how to deal with these emotions. They give the
advice for a parent to listen to their child as well as not act upon the
strong conflicting and confusing emotions they may be feeling at this
period of time. They also give ways for parents to accept their child,
such as not rejecting their child and getting them help through this
time if they may be feeling conflicted in their feelings and thoughts
about themselves as it is (Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to
Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers,
USCCB, 1997).
In conclusion, after reading about the Catholic Social Teachings
views, I learned some things I did not know. I found that the Catholic
Church most likely does not condone the actions of these extremists in
their church. The things these people do do not correspond with the
churchs beliefs and others should not be stereotyped as being like

these people. The church says to anyone homosexual to not be turned

away or scared of the church as In you God's love is revealed. You are
always our children (Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to
Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers,
USCCB, 1997).