The centrality of marriage: homosexuality and the Roman Catholic argument - Homosexuality: Some Elements for an Ecumenical Discussion

Ecumenical Review, The, Jan, 1998 by James P. Hanigan

It is surely inadvisable, if not impossible, to address the issues of sexual orientation and homosexual behaviour independently of one's more general theological and moral views about human sexuality and sexual behaviour. Certainly the Roman Catholic tradition has not done so. I will therefore proceed in this essay in three stages. First, I will indicate the sources of Roman Catholic moral thought and how I understand the teaching about human sexuality which was developed by the historical tradition from those sources,(1) with special attention to sexual orientation and/or preference and sexual conduct. Second, I will explain the moral stance which the Roman Catholic community, through its official teachers,(2) has taken on the issues of homosexual orientation and conduct at this time in history. Finally, I will touch briefly on the implications of this official teaching for the rights of homosexual persons in both church and state.(3)

The sources of Roman Catholic moral thought

The Roman Catholic community has a lengthy, rather complex tradition of thought in regard to sexual morality.(4) The Bible, the primary narrative and fundamental normative source(5) for the church's own self-understanding and ethical practice, as well as for its relationship to the larger society, has considerable material for reflection and appropriation on the subject of human sexual behaviour. Starting with the two creation stories in the opening chapters of Genesis (Gen. 1:28; 2:18-24),(6) and including a variety of narratives found in the historical books (e.g., Gen. 19:1-14; 34:1-5; 38:1-26: 39:1-20; Ruth 4; 2 Sam. 11-12:15; 1 Kings 11:1-13; Tob. 8:1-21), the holiness codes in Leviticus (ch. 18, esp. v.22), the ten commandments (Ex. 20:14,17), the Song of Songs and the practical moral advice of the wisdom literature (Pss 127 and 128; Prov. 5; 31:10-31; Eccl. 9:9-10), and the prophetic analogy between marriage and the Israelite covenant with God (Isa 54:4-10; Ezek. 16; Hos. 1-3; Mall 2:10-16). the Old Testament is thought to shed considerable light on marriage and family as central to the divine purpose for human sexuality and its responsible uses in relation to God s covenant with Israel.

The New Testament is likewise eloquent in its testimony to marriage and family as the embodiment of the divine purpose for human sexuality and its proper use in light of the already and not-yet present kingdom of God proclaimed in and by Jesus the Christ. The gospel passages on marriage and divorce (Matt. 5:31-32; 19:1-9: Mark 10:1-12; Luke 16:18), on sexual desires (Matt. 5:27-30), and on celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:10-12) are all taken with great seriousness in the Roman Catholic tradition. The Pauline instructions on licit and illicit sexual behaviour (1 Cor. 6:12-7:40), as well as the great Pauline analogy of the mystery of Christ s union with the church to the human marital union (Eph. 5:21-33) are prominent among New Testament passages which provide fuller insight into the divine plan for human well-being and the gospel call to holiness in regard to sexual activity.

In addition, within the Roman Catholic community its saints,(7) its theologians, its pastors and official teachers, as well as its members, have continued over the many years of the church s life to reflect upon the meaning and value of human sexuality. This reflection has proceeded with faith in the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit and in light of both the community's ongoing engagement with the biblical witness and new knowledge about the human person and the ever-changing social conditions in which people struggle to make sense of and live out their sexual desires and relationships.(8)

Since for most of recorded history nothing seems to have been known about what today we somewhat ambiguously call sexual orientation,(9) it is only in the present century that we can expect to find anything relevant in Roman Catholic teaching about the orientation itself. Historically, same-sex conduct between both males and females was known both within and outside the biblical world.(10) It was assumed, as far as we can tell, to be a choice of the individuals who engaged in such behaviour, although in giving their consent to it they may well have been seen to be yielding to the prompting of evil spirits.(11) In the Roman Catholic tradition, but certainly not only there. same-sex behaviour was judged to be unnatural and to be condemned as such in Scripture. So. when voluntarily chosen, it was sinful, and the grounds for that judgment were thought to be quite clear from both revelation and reason.

Such a view is understandable, coming as it does from a tradition that understood Genesis, Matthew, Paul and the natural law to teach that the normative setting for human sexual activity is marriage and that the primary purpose of human sexuality as created by God is the well-being of the human species.(12) Sexuality was regarded in the first instance as a biological and social reality. The good of human sexuality was understood to be first and foremost a social good - the establishment of a stable family for the procreation and education of children. Thomas Aquinas (to offer but one instance from the tradition) put forth as his primary rational argument for sexual monogamy and the indissolubility of marriage the consideration that such conditions were essential to marriage in order to promote that social good. Sex required marriage, and marriage required monogamy and indissolubility to ensure the appropriate environment, the stable family, for the proper birthing and rearing of children.(13)