A number of readers have suggested that I am a homophobe, preaching hatred against homosexuals. I am no more so than the Pope or his 2IC, Cardinal Bertone. I am merely drawing attention to the traditional teaching of the Church that homosexuality is a disordered state.
What, exactly, does that mean? Dr. Jeff Mirus, writing in Catholic Culture, gives an excellent summary:
"In Catholic parlance, what determines whether something is naturally disordered is whether or not it is operating according to its proper end, whether it is properly ordered to its natural purpose. If it is not, we call it “disordered”. Inclinations with respect to any of our faculties which make us want to use those faculties in a manner inconsistent with their proper end are not sinful; they simply reflect our own disorder, our lack of perfect integrity."
Does that mean that homosexuality is a sin? According to Dr. Mirus, "if we proceed to indulge an inclination to act in a manner inconsistent with the relevant proper ends, we do in fact sin. Thus, I reminded the correspondent that the Church does not hold a homosexual inclination to be sinful—it is merely disordered—but the Church does regard homosexual activity as sinful, in keeping with the clear witness of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium."
Those two paragraphs are as fair and clear an explanation of the Church's position on homosexuality as I've seen in a long time...much better than anything I could write myself. Click here to read the entire article.
But is the Church's position correct? Is the truth about homosexuality what the Church says it is? Click here to read the follow-up by Dr. Jeff Mirus, "Homosexuality 2: the Truth Question".
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