Much has been written about homosexuality and the persons who happen to be gays and lesbians.
As a Christian and practising Catholic I do not have to trouble myself with the complexities of the subject as I am no expert in the matter.
This is so because the Church Magisterium does it all for me through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2357, 2358 and 2359.
Para. 2357: Based on tradition and Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered". They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved (Hate the sin – parentheses mine).
It would be most illuminating at this point to read paras. 2360 and 2361 on sexuality which is ordered to the conjugal love of a man and a woman.
Para. 2358: Men and women who have deep seated homosexual tendencies do not choose their homosexual condition: for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every unjust sign of discrimination in their regard should be avoided. 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 the difficulties from their condition. (Love the sinner).
Par. 2359: Homosexual persons are called to chastity. (Just as single heterosexuals are). By the virtue of self-mastery that teaches them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection. (It is a matter of choice of the truth or wilful ignorance of the truth).
[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]
Accepting homosexuals as they are (2)
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110510/letters/Accepting-homosexuals-as-they-are-2-.364529Tuesday, May 10, 2011 , by Edward Caruana Galizia, Lija
Anyone who claims they can convert a homosexual into a heterosexual is wrong.
In fact, any priest or religious conservative who claims to do so will ultimately admit that they do not change a person's sexual orientation, just their behaviour.
Anyone who claims they can convert a homosexual into a heterosexual is wrong.
In fact, any priest or religious conservative who claims to do so will ultimately admit that they do not change a person's sexual orientation, just their behaviour.
Ex-gay ministries, institutions that charge thousands of dollars to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals using highly physically and psychologically harmful techniques, have a success rate of three per cent, and that three per cent work within the industry itself. The founders of these places have come out admitting it's a hoax, and the current leaders also admit that their promise is a lie. So let's not fool ourselves. These things don't work.
Only when a gay man/woman learns to see that they are prefect just as they are, and that there is nothing wrong with them and that they should accept themselves, do they go on to live a happy and healthy life. Pastors, priests and other conservatives might say otherwise, but they are mistaken.
I urge all gay teens, and anyone struggling with their sexuality, to find professional help, and to trust no one who says they can be "liberated" from it.
[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]
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