The Catholic Church and Sexuality - Essay Example

? Lecturer: The Catholic Church and Sexuality Introduction The Catholic Church has voiced its opinions on the various issues that pertaining to sexuality. This is because of the spiritual sanctity that Christians are supposed to posses. The Church has on many occasions taken sides on the most issues relating to sexuality so as to advice its flock accordingly. The issues that the Catholic Church has been vocal about include; maintenance of celibacy rule for the clergy, using of condoms as a preventive measure of contacting AIDs, gay marriages, lesbianism, homosexuality, bisexuality, women serving as deacons or bishops, prostitution, mode of dressing for different sexes, use of contraceptives as a way of exercising family planning, pornography, sex education in schools and lastly same gender sexual activity are strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. This is because the catholic still enjoins and enforces though in a subtle way complete obedience and docility on the principle of Roma locuta causa finite (Rome has spoken no more debate). The church has went ahead and imposed sanctions to members who have expressed divergent views on its dogmas and doctrines. In the recent times it has been observed that many Westerners, scholars, Catholic priests and nuns around the world have rejected the Catholic Church stand on sexual morality because of what they consider as lack of conformity with reality concerning sexual situations. Because in real situation if we go by the Catholic Church’s stand then incidences of unwanted pregnancies, procured abortions, sinkers and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) will spontaneously shoot to uncontrolled levels. Discussion The Catholic Church is considered as the most conservative force with respect to attitudes towards the accepted codes of social behavior. This requires that none of the Catholic faithful goes against its doctrines. On the understanding of the Catholic Church that it is run by humans, some human traits can not trail it. Among them is the tendency to mask the freedom expression which curtails the freedom of those who want to give their views on sexual related issues like use of condoms to prevent spread of HIV virus, transgender persons and marriage. This is based on the fact that the Catholic Church loves and upholds absolute obedience as opposed to objection, contradiction, and independent opinion to those who oppose the views taken by the church. According to Abioye (4), basically the Catholic Church perceives that any form of sexual act outside marriage is a sin according to the doctrines therefore is excluded from sacramental communion. Besides, the church regards the usage of any form of artificial contraceptive equally as a sin. Though in contrast, the church insists that life must be respected and protected completely from the moment of conception. The church stipulates, “A person who procures an abortion a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae senteiae, by the very commission of the offence.” This stand taken by the church is supposed to be followed without too much questioning. Many scholars disagree with the Catholic stand on sex before marriage. This is because it lacks conformity with reality. St. Augustine of Hippo says on Church doctrines, “…..dramatizes the fear of sexual pleasure, equating pleasure with perdition in such a way that anyone who tries to follow his train of thought will have the sense of being trapped in a nightmare.” Their have been intensive research done and it has been observed by Hardon that, “neither the Jewish Talmund no the Moslem Quran and Hadith forbid polygamy, contraception or abortion.” The Catholic Church objects with zeal that the use of contraceptives and abortion. But on medical grounds abortion is allowed so as to save the life of the mother if it is in danger. According to Abioye (6), the ecclesiastical belief is that the use of contraceptives should not be encouraged because it creates room for sexual permissiveness. To some extent the statement is justifiable but it does not apply to all men and women. This is because human beings are capable of prolonged sexual abstinence, support pregnancy and family obligations both psychologically and physically without engaging in extra- marital sex (Abioje,09). There certain situations that the Church sees as a moral choice. This is enshrined n the ethical principle called double effect. This is where an action taken for moral purposes has an unintended, unavoidable, indirect and negative effect. For example administering of a narcotic to relieve the pain of a terminally-ill cancer patient but it has the side effect of quickening death. The double effect action is only acceptable if the following conditions are met; the negative effects are not sought and all reasonable efforts are done to alleviate them, the direct effect is positive. The negative effect is not made a way of finding the positive effect and finally the positive effect is at least as vital as the negative effect. An example is ectopic pregnancy; the Catholic Church allows the medical procedure on moral grounds. This is because it will result in the death of the embryo the mother is left alive. The surgical procedure will negatively affect the fertility of the mother while the medical procedure will leave the mother’s fertility intact (Robinson, 20). The Catechism of the Catholic Church in numbers in numbers 2357-2359 highlights the issue of homosexuality. It further outlines that there are homosexuals who do not choose their conditions and therefore should not be discriminated. In the subsequent number, the homosexuals are asked to remain chaste by being involved only in disinterested friendship. It says, “They can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.” This statement puts the Church at logger heads with experienced homosexuals because all friendships create an element of interest. Priests with homosexuality orientation can be considered as people who are attracted to persons of the same gender. They include religious liberals, gays, lesbians, human sexuality researchers and mental health researchers. The number of gay priests in the US cannot be substantiated but it is presumed to be approximately between 10%-30%. The same sex oriented priests can decide to remain chaste or engage in the same sex activity. The spokesperson of John Paul II Joaquin proposed that homosexuals should not be ordained to be priests. He further defends his opinion by saying that it does not imply a final judgment on people with same sex sexual orientation (Robinson, 11) Another area of sexuality that the Catholic Church has issues with is divorce. They argue that the preservation of the marriage institution is very vital and marriages should not be dissolved though some couples have found the going too tough to bear. The Catholic Church has underlined that divorce is impossible therefore marriage is considered dissoluble unless it can be proven to have never existed, then an annulment can be obtained. Thereafter, remarriage is allowed. According to the Catholic Church doctrines, divorce was allowed in Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) times but the permanence of marriage was restored by Jesus. Also, they assert that once marriage has been consummated it is indissoluble until one of the spouse dies. Next is that the Catholic Church does not recognize divorces issued by other parties or issue divorce itself. Finally, the church can issue an annulment although the couple must first prove to the church tribunal that the marriage is was valid and it was in existence (Jenks,pp. 33-53). The church fathers of the early times, the Church Councils of later times and various popes of the recent times have all voiced their opinions regarding the issue of marriage. All have argued that after a valid marriage is consummated, it is indissoluble until the death of one spouse. According to Pope Innocent I (401-417 AC), he wrote, “Your diligence has asked concerning those, also, who, by means of a deed of separation, have contracted another marriage. It is manifest that they are adulterers on both sides.” On issues regarding transgendarism, transsexuals, gender dysphasia and gender identity the Catholic Church has varied opinions. Those people who have Genetic Identity Disorder (GID) presume their genetic gender is different from their perceived gender. Some look themselves as having a male brain inside a female body and vice versa or a man trapped in a woman’s body and vice versa too. To solve this issue there are several probable solutions. First, is by altering the person’s thinking so that they can accept their genetic disorder and secondly is changing the person’s physical appearance to match their perceived gender. It is this second solution that is against the doctrines of the Catholic Church. According to the Roman Catholic Church, the altering of a person’s appearance is against their system of morality. Bt quoting 1st Corinthians 6:19,"What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” Therefore surgically modifying one’s body structures is a serious sin because one’s body is not one’s to be changed at will. For matters like marriage and ordination, the church takes into account only the genetic gender of the candidate. This therefore means a transsexual can not marry a man even if they acquire a marriage license because they are considered by the church as same sex marriage of two males which it strongly forbidden by the church. It is on this line of thinking that they can not be ordained as priests irrespective of their appearance, personality, talents and knowledge. During late 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said in a speech that our gender was a gift from God thus denouncing those who tried altering it. He said, "It is a question here of faith in the Creator and of listening to the language of creation, the devaluation of which leads to the self-destruction of man and therefore to the destruction of the same work of God." The prime stand of the Catholic moral teaching is that no individual can morally commit an evil act even if the end product would be a major benefit. But the Catholic Church offers a reprieve to resolve this dilemma: confession. A transsexual might decide to undergo the GRS procedure an later confess their sin to the High priest with a genuine sorrow during the sacrament of penance with an assurance of not undergoing ant further reassignment surgery and be granted an absolution.. Another contentious issue the Catholic Church has a role in is masturbation and a shopping list of other sexual activities. This is because they do not fulfill two criteria; acceptable sexual acts can be performed only by one woman married to one man and also that every sexual act must be geared towards the possibility of conception. However, with ever changing times some liberal Catholic moral theologians and Catholic laity deviate from this doctrine arguing that it does not conform to the realities on the ground. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) condemns masturbation in Part 3: "Life in Christ;" Section 2: "The Ten Commandments;" Article 6: "The Sixth Commandment;" Topic: "Offenses against chastity." In CCC number 2351: "Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes." The Roman Catholic divide sin into two venial and mortal sin. The church considers that if a person is separated from God he/she is bound to suffer eternally. This is because the church teaches that there is no possibility under which a mortal sin can be forgiven after a person has passed on. However, the church teaches that an individual guilty of a mortal sin can confess it to a priest who may give the person absolution of the sin. This is why masturbation is not considered as gross moral disorder because there is room for forgiveness. For masturbation to be considered a mortal sin the person must commit the act with full knowledge of the sin and its seriousness and secondly it must be committed with deliberate and complete consent (Robinson,11). The Catholic Church reserves the topic of gender the sacrament of Holy Orders to men. Women are excluded in all the higher levels of the Catholic Church service and authority where ordination is paramount. This is because since the time immemorial, the Church’s belief is that a woman should not be ordained as priest citing the reason that Christ did not select any woman as his disciple whom the Catholics perceive as the first Christian ministers for the word of God. They argue that he wished to institute the ministerial role for men alone. When in 1914 Pope John Paul II says, "The Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful." Therefore, modern Catholics believe that Christ’s choice depicts a certain perception in societal context and the exclusion of women from of the females from priesthood duties and the diaconate is matter of politics and lust for power. This is because everybody s considered to be equal in the front of the Creator. But this in contrast to what the church taught traditionally that women were created to not to the same perfection as men thus contravening against the rights of women. This because women can equally serve just like men but the immortal truth the church has based its argument prevents it from ever materializing. This is because the church is subtly informed about this mode of reasoning and it derives its power from non-questioning of is doctrines and dogmas. Women being excluded from priesthood was a hurdle to the diaconate since deacons were merely priest in training. A directive by Pope Paul VI to form a commission to determine whether women should be incorporated in the priesthood, its results and findings were never made public and published showing how the Catholic Church is reluctant in ordaining women priests. This has led to the church not stating whether women will ever be restored to the diaconate a role open to them in the New Testament times and for many centuries thereafter. What is astonishing is that the modern Catholic Church strongly affirms the dignity and worth of women but they are not involved in the crucial decisions that are made by the church. Besides, they are important in the society, families, equal in worth before God therefore should never be discriminated (Stewart, 23-30). On the issue regarding prostitution, the Catholic Church views it as a scourge to the society. This is because the in the Bible the sixth commandment clearly says, “Thou shall not commit adultery.” In the Catechism of the Catholic Church number 2334,"In creating men 'male and female,' God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity." This clearly stipulates the position of the church regarding the issue of prostitution. It forbids its faithful against indulging in prostitution because it is contrary to the sacramental character of marriage because it goes against the good of marital fidelity. (Shaw & Stravinskas, p. 823) Conclusion In summary most issues related to sexuality faces strong opposition from the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is often perceived as the most conservative force with respect to attitudes towards the accepted codes of social behavior. This is because once the church has created and formalized its doctrines as articles of faith no member is expected to go against it. This limits the academic freedom of church-rooted academicians to research and later report as sincerely as possible on the findings of many social sexual practices that the church classifies as sin. Moreover, those that follow the ecclesiastical teachings are considered as rigid and closed against questioning and contradiction just like the dogma teaching itself. The acronym LGBT is used commonly to refer to lesbians, bisexuals, gays and transgender persons. Most religious conservatives; refer to the transgender persons by their birth assigned order, have the belief that their gender identity can be solve through prayer. However according to the Catholic Church GRS is a form of bodily mutilation thus it is an offence in front of the most High Lord. Finally, the Catholic Church strongly opposes the legislations that are put to protect the interests of the LGBT persons from hate crimes and discrimination at the places of work. The Catholic Church bans abortion which directly terminates the life of the fetus. However, there are certain medical procedures that expectant women are subjected to which indirectly leads to the death of the embryo or the fetus. Under these circumstances the Catholic Church regards it as a moral choice. To sum up the Catholic Church bluntly objects the use of condoms despite the fact that many scholars have proved that condoms reduce the spread of H.I.V virus. Works Cited Abioje, P. O. (1999, December 12). The Catholic Church, Human Sexuality and Academic freedom in Nigeria. Retrieved Novenmber 27, 2012, from http://www.codesria.org/IMG/pdf/Pius_Abioje.pdf B, R. A. (2011, March 01). Teachings on human sexuality by the Roman Catholic Church, and the resulting conflicts. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from Religious Tolerance.: http://www.religioustolerance.org/sexrom.htm Jenks, R. J. (2002). Divorce, Annulments, and the Catholic Church: Healing Or Hurtful? Binghamton: Routledge Publishers. Robinson, B. A. (2011, December 27). Diversity of Roman Catholic beliefs about masturbation. Retrieved Novenmber 28, 2012, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/masturba10b.htm Shaw, R. B., & Stravinskas, P. M. (1998). Church & State: A Novel of Politics and Power. Rome: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. Stewart, C. (2008-2012, June 18). Gender and Sexuality. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://www.patheos.com/Library/Roman-Catholicism/Ethics-Morality- Community/Gender-and-Sexuality.html Read More