Gays & Church are both pilgrims carrying a cross

Tough love in Catholic teaching is the long term gift for society  

A Muslim football player in Australia has to sit out a series of games because they are tagged as the "Pride Round", highlighting homosexuality as much as the need for inclusivity for homosexuals; a PhD candidate is suing the UK's Bristol University, pointing to how it failed to protect her from bullying and harassment from transgender activists over her feminist views.

It matters little that, as in these cases, people who are sympathetic to those discriminated against are forced to suffer the consequences of the disorientation that has arisen in society where the homosexual and transgender communities exploit the Christian concept of the innate dignity of every human to oppress those who hold views that they object to, namely moral behaviour witnessed in most cultures and reinforced in the revelation provided through the Judaeo-Christian legacy.  

The foundational principle of that legacy is this:

God created humanity in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. — Genesis 1:27

The United States Catholic bishops' conference has said in a draft document: 

The Church's doctrine on the human person, created in the image of God and called to communion with him, has remained constant throughout the ages. Today, unprecedented social and legal changes pertaining to sexual identity, marriage, and family undermine this teaching and present a distorted understanding of the human person. These changes have introduced profound pain and brokenness into people's lives, and have given rise to new concerns [...] that demand attention.

The Church is aware that confusion reigns in the public mind about human sexuality and is not looking to crush those who, in response to the zeitgeist of self-creation, of the pursuit of personal pleasure, both physical and emotional, and of the rejection of community restraints on private impulses, are taking a path that is leading to human misery, so that statistics relating to suicide and gender confusion among the young are unprecedented.  

The attitudes that are being promoted generally in Western societies are leaving young people unlinked to reality and adrift from solid comprehension of the behaviour that makes for happiness. Evidence of this is the statistic that only 54 per cent of Generation Z Britons believe they are attracted to only one sex. Generation Z accounts for those born in the mid-to-late 1990s up to the early 2010s. In fact, it has become fashionable to state that one is sexually fluid!

An essential matter to grasp is that the Church does not follow the dictats of any metaphysical innovations introduced by elites or the general social mores of any era, but has as its reference marker the way we are made. That marker also signals the route to our thriving in society.

Therefore, the bishops are conscientious about their responsibilities to all people, wish to be shepherds to all, and are acting in solidarity with all in the community, not limiting their insights to Catholics alone, but seeking the common good in promoting a true understanding of the human person:

In these times, when sexuality, marriage and the family are being redefined, the truth of the human person and his or her high calling needs to be proclaimed all the more. The Church's teaching on the human person reveals the truth about our relationship with our merciful and all-powerful God, as well as the profound role he has in mind for each of us in his wonderful plan. 

The Church's message about the beauty of who we are in Christ, as beloved sons and daughters, affects how we respect our own bodies, recognize our sexual identities as male and female, and live out the virtue of chastity according to our states in life [whether single, married or committed as a servant of God].

What the Church desires for everyone is expressed in this way - referring to priests' ministry, but signifying the approach of all Catholics to those they encounter: They "must treat all with exceptional kindness in imitation of the Lord". 

[They] ... owe it to everybody to share with them the truth of the Gospel (cf. Gal 2:5) in which they rejoice in the Lord.... [I]n every case their role is to teach not their own wisdom but the Word of God and to issue a pressing invitation to all people to conversion and to holiness.

"Every human person, male and female, is created in the image of God and has intrinsic dignity", the bishops say. "The inviolable dignity of the human person must always be respected." They then delve into the nature of the human person, using insights expressed in Church documents. (Use the link to go to the citations in the bishops' document):

• "When the first man exclaims at the sight of the woman, 'she is flesh from my flesh and bone from my bones' (Gn 2:23), he simply affirms the human identity of both." In essence, Adam says, "Look, a body that expresses the 'person '!"

• "The human body shares in the dignity of 'the image of God,'" and the human person is a unity of body and soul — "spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature." "For this reason a person may not despise their bodily life. Rather each is obliged to regard their body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day."

• "The acceptance of our bodies as God's gift is vital. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one's own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary. ..."

The obvious sexual difference within the animal world and the complementarity of the sexes leads to a discussion concerning the human family:

• "By creating the human being man and woman, God gives personal dignity equally to the one and the other. Each of them, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity." "[The] importance and the meaning of sexual difference, as a reality deeply inscribed in man and woman, needs to be noted. 'Sexuality characterizes man and woman not only on the physical level, but also on the psychological and spiritual, making its mark on each of their expressions' .... From the first moment of their creation, man and woman are distinct, and will remain so for all eternity."

• "Male and female are thus revealed as belonging ontologically to creation and destined therefore to outlast the present time, evidently in a transfigured form." [The last element refers to our life in heaven as a male or female, our bodies reunited with our souls, for all eternity].

• Marriage is the permanent, faithful, and fruitful union of one man and one woman. God is the author of marriage, which was "willed by God in the very act of creation." No person or institution has the authority to change what God has ordained and what has been inscribed into the fabric of creation. "[Jesus] said in reply, 'Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator "made them male and female" and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"?" (Mt 19:4-5).

• "The family—based on marriage between a man and a woman—is the first and fundamental unit of society and is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children. It should be defended and strengthened, not redefined, undermined, or further distorted." 

• Every child is a gift with inviolable dignity. "Every child has a right to receive love from a mother and a father; both are necessary for a child's integral and harmonious development."

•     "Thus the couple, while giving themselves to one another, give not just themselves but also the reality of children, who are a living reflection of their love, a permanent sign of conjugal unity and a living and inseparable synthesis of their being a father and a mother."

The document heaps praise on those single parents, who out of necessity carry the burden of raising children alone, while pointing out the problematic situation where children are raised by same-sex couples. Adoption is spoken of here, but of course same sex couples often turn to a third party to have a child of at least one of them: 

•     "[T]he Church does not support the adoption of children by same-sex couples since homosexual unions are contrary to the divine plan."  "As experience has shown, the absence of sexual complementarity in these unions creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons. They would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood." It is important to remember that "[t]he best interests of the child should always underlie any decision in adoption and foster care."

But to come to the central elements of the Church's teaching on same-sex attraction: 

• "The Church does not teach that the experience of homosexual attraction is in itself sinful." "While the Church teaches that homosexual acts are immoral, she does distinguish between engaging in homosexual acts and having a homosexual inclination. While the former is always objectively sinful, the latter is not. To the extent that a homosexual tendency or inclination is not subject to one's free will, one is not morally culpable for that tendency. Although one would be morally culpable if one were voluntarily to entertain homosexual temptations or to choose to act on them, simply having the tendency is not a sin."

• The homosexual inclination, because it "predisposes one toward what is truly not good for the human person," is technically understood by the philosophical term "objectively disordered". This term is often misunderstood today. "It is crucially important to understand that saying a person has a particular inclination that is disordered is not to say that the person as a whole is disordered... [T]he person retains his or her intrinsic human dignity and value." Same-sex attraction might best be characterized as a "cross," inasmuch as it is a burden which hinders a person's ability to fulfill the meaning and purpose of his or her sexuality, but which can be united to Christ's Cross and become a means of sanctification.

The document frequently states the importance of recognising that each person's goal in life should be to know and love God, to grow in holiness, which is the state of closeness to God. Our life on earth is always in a secondary condition and so, as with all other natural elements of our life, our sexuality should not be held as being of the great importance to us as we identify what gives us meaning and purpose. We are more than what we feel. 

The document continues:

• "Because of both Original Sin and personal sin, moral disorder is all too common in our world. There are a variety of acts, such as adultery, fornication, masturbation, and contraception, that violate the proper ends of human sexuality. Homosexual acts also violate the true purpose of sexuality. They are sexual acts that cannot be open to life. Nor do they reflect the complementarity of man and woman that is an integral part of God's design for human sexuality. Consequently, the Catholic Church has consistently taught that homosexual acts 'are contrary to the natural law... Under no circumstances can they be approved'."

• Moral choices consistent with human dignity and the Gospel lead to the fulfillment of the human person and his or her ultimate happiness. "Immoral actions, actions that are not in accord with the natural order of things, are incapable of contributing to true human fulfillment and happiness. In fact, immoral actions are destructive of the human person because they degrade and undermine the human dignity given us by God."

While the Church is concerned to uphold "God's plan for marriage and the meaning of human sexuality", it also strives to support those of a homosexual orientation in a way of life that recognises "the full truth of the human person". 

The Church is called to accompany those who feel marginalised: "Sad to say, there are many persons with a homosexual inclination who feel alienated from the Church. The accompaniment called for will enable "each person to recognise and bear this cross in union with Christ".

Therefore, the homosexual is not alone in facing the predicament that life has thrust upon him or her. All people walk the same path in one way or another.

• The call to holiness is a call to the perfection of love. God wants us to say yes to his invitation freely and lovingly. Such a response often takes time; we have to overcome tendencies toward selfishness and self-centeredness: we have to learn how to love truly and authentically. "The  Christian life ... is a life in which one gets out of oneself in order to give oneself to others. It is a gift, it is love – and love does not turn in on itself, it is not selfish, but self-giving." We are all, therefore, people constantly on the journey towards holiness, a pilgrim people.

This overview of the rationale of the Catholic teaching on the homosexual orientation has pointed out  that the Church makes a definite distinction made between, one the one hand, a person having such an orientation, and on the other hand, a person with such an orientation deliberately carrying out sexual activity with a person of the same sex. The first is not immoral, the second is an offense against God.

An associated matter is that all adults, in the normal course of life, struggle with temptations and urges arising from habits or physical inclinations, some slight, others powerful. We know that God has given us the free will, and his grace, to resist. He forgives when we give in. In this way, the homosexual and the straight have to answer the same call.