God made man and woman in His image and likeness.

They are not identical, but they are equal

in dignity. When God created Adam, he said that it is not good for man to be alone and so He
created Eve and the reason for it is because Eve complements Adam and vice versa. And so, God
created marriage and its purpose is for the union of both man and woman and for procreation. Its
goal also is for the education of the children. God is the one who institutionalized marriage and it
is bound by the creation and foundation of family.

It is also stated that there are some men and women get sexually attracted to the same sex and it is
not their fault. It is strongly indicated in the document that being attracted to the same sex is not a
sin or being a homosexual is not a sin, but it is the act or the sexual practices behind it. These so-
called practices are not tolerated by the Catholic Church because it doesn’t represent the goal of
man and woman which is to unite and procreate.

The Catholic Church approach children with deep-seated homosexual tendencies with motherly
compassion and paternal love. These children are called to have and develop virtue-based and
chaste friendships. The Church is very much aware of the difficulty of practicing and leading a
pure and holy life, so the Church encourages homosexual persons to be more open to the glory and
grace of God. Also, they are called to attend the Mass and recourse the Sacrament of Penance.

We are very much aware of the rampant spread of legal recognition of same-sex marriage in other
countries. That this social reality has no grounds on being similar or analogous to God’s plan in
marriage and the family. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith instructs us to refrain from
cooperating and joining the said act or the union of homosexual persons. In other words, Catholics
are not allowed to participate, tolerate and attend religious or legal ceremonies that celebrate and
legitimize homosexual unions. Here in the Philippines where same-sex marriage is not recognized
legally, the Catholics are called to give witness to the whole moral truth about human sexuality,
which is contradicted “both by approval of homosexual acts and the unjust discrimination against
homosexual persons,” to oppose to any gravely unjust laws that contravene the divine and natural
law. It is also stated that we should treat homosexuals with charity and unconditional love. This
love should be in the side of the truth and not consenting, tolerating or defending the so-called
“homosexual lifestyle”. In the government, Catholic politicians are ordered to repel the legal
recognition of homosexual unions and should publicly vote against it.

Marriage has given both man and woman benefit from the state. Marriage hugely contributes to
the common good which is the procreation and education of children. Marriage is a permanent
binding of man and woman for life so that their children would have the experience and benefit of
the complementary male and female presence in their total development. Homosexual unions on
the other hand do not contribute to the procreation and survival of human race aspect. It is unfair
to grant them legal recognition along with the same benefits that a couple can get in marriage.

The act of adopting a child or use of reproductive technologies are prohibited and unacceptable.
Since these actions intentionally deprive children of fatherhood and of motherhood that they would
need for their development and learning of gender roles and norms. Also, granting legal
recognition to homosexual unions will change and redefine marriage.

There are common arguments and debate made against how the Church viewed homosexuals. The
Church provided answers for the enlightenment and and understanding of these people.
Some people would argue that to deny the legal recognition of homosexual unions just shows and
tolerates discrimination of homosexuals who just wants to express their love and commitment to
their partners. The Catholic response was distinguishing between persons or rejecting social
recognition or benefits to specific individuals or groups of individuals is considered immoral only
when it is contrary to justice. Marriage is more than just an expression or reassurance of ones love
and commitment to their partner. Therefore, the government licenses marriage in a way that it does
not regulate other types of friendship. Only in marriage that can naturally and directly contribute
children and a stable environment for the raising of those children, to the common good.

Second argument was homosexuals should be legally recognized because they are individuals who
have the right to do anything they want just like heterosexuals. The Catholic response to this; the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explains, it is one thing for individual persons to freely
engage in their private activities, and another very different thing for them to demand that the state
sanction these activities, especially when they would harm the common good.
Third argument; There are many instances where same-sex couples have clearly grown in virtue,
for example, the virtues of patience, forgiveness, and generosity, in and through their efforts to
build a life together. So why not legally recognized them? The Catholic response was these virtues
alone would not be the only reason for granting them the legal status of marriage because they still
cannot contribute to the common good. Also, homosexuals are being reminded by the Church that
these virtues are not sufficient for salvation and eternal life to which everyone is called.

Last argument was that marriage has evolved over time and should recognize and accommodate
the contemporary notions of human sexuality that recognize sexual orientations. The Catholic
response was
The truth about marriage, i.e., that it is a social institution ordered towards the life-long union of a
man and a woman and the procreation and education of their children, is attainable by human
reason. However, given our Adamic nature, especially given the desires that obscure our intellect,
it is a truth that is often hard to grasp, and only after a long time, it is with the admixture of many
errors. Not surprisingly, there will always be confusion about the nature of marriage. Nevertheless,
error is not a reason to abandon truth.

The Catholic Church is called to preach the good news about marriage especially in countries that
legalizes homosexual unions. That to go back and turn to God’s original plan in the beginning.

The Catholic Church is called to strongly renew its efforts to catechize and teach the faithful about
the true nature of creation and marriage. Specifically, for young people who may be led into sin
and get confused by those social movements that want to normalize homosexuality and to legalize
homosexual unions.

The Catholic bishops will be posting and disseminating a short catechism that specifically responds
in basic and simple language to the most common questions and objections raised by critics of the
Church’s teaching on marriage and homosexual unions.
This article or document has enlightened me about how the Church view homosexuals. I’ve always
had misconceptions about how Catholics perceive homosexuals and homosexual unions. One that
struck me was the response of the Church in terms of the legal recognition of homosexual unions.
In our understanding of God’s creation of man and woman in complementarity and in His
establishment of marriage, however, there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual
unions to be similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and the family. One
thing I learned here in school was the real nature of marriage and its purpose. It is nowhere near
that homosexual unions are similar to marriage. Since homosexual unions are not procreative and
marriage was made for procreation and education of children. Another thing that I agree with was
about the opposition of homosexual acts but not distinguishing the attraction to the same sex as a
sin. Sexual attraction towards the same sex is not a sin but homosexual acts or practices are
contrary to the natural law. Homosexual desires are not in themselves sinful. People are subject to
a wide variety of sinful desires over which they have little direct control, but these do not become
sinful until a person acts upon them. People have a basic, ethical intuition that certain behaviors
are wrong because they are unnatural. We perceive intuitively that the natural sex partner of a
human is another human, not an animal. The same reasoning applies to the case of homosexual
behavior. The natural sex partner for a man is a woman, and the natural sex partner for a woman
is a man. Thus, people have the corresponding intuition concerning homosexuality that they do
about bestiality—that it is wrong because it is unnatural.

Marriage is also the form of life best suited for the flourishing of children. As St. Thomas Aquinas
explained, human children need, not only nourishment for their bodies, but also education for their
souls. This they acquire best, according to St. Thomas, when they have both parents – father and
mother, male and female – as their teachers and role models. I honestly think that a child can be
nourished and be the best even if his/her parents were both male or both female. Researches shows
that children or even adults who grew up with gay parents tend to be successful also and are less
inclined in having mental health issues or problems. So, I really don’t think that having parents
that are male and female would strongly contribute to a child’s future or development. I also think
that the Church and State should find and think of ways on how to strengthen families.
Concretely, this means that Catholics cannot participate in any way or even attend religious or
legal ceremonies that celebrate and legitimize homosexual unions. I mean there is nothing wrong
in attending or participating in celebrating only the homosexuals and not the union. It is one way
of supporting homosexuals and recognizing them as a part of the society. Finally, given their
unique vocation, Catholic politicians are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual
unions in a particularly vigorous way. I also believe that these politicians should not only oppose
to the legal recognition but they should protect the rights of the homosexuals just like any other
ordinary human being especially when justice has been deprived of them.

First important learning that I acquired from the document was learning the true nature of marriage
and its purpose. That God made it for man and woman and for unity and procreation. That God
instituted marriage as the form of life in which the complementarity of man and woman would be
fulfilled and perfected. That marriage is is more than just the mutual affirmation one’s love and
commitment to a beloved.

Second is that the Catholic Church does not discriminate nor condemn homosexuals. That the
Church wholeheartedly welcomes our homosexual brothers and sisters to penance and advises the
people around them to treat them fairly and love them. That families with members who struggle
with homosexuality are called to love them unconditionally, thereby outlasting all their other same-
sex loves.

Third is that how homosexual unions or same-sex marriage are not accepted and honored by the
Church. This union does not contribute to the goal of man which is procreation and the survival of
human beings. And by legalizing the marriage between homosexuals will definitely redefine
marriage as a sacrament and gift from God.
I intend to use my learnings in dealing with issues when it comes to homosexuality. If there are
arguments that contradicts the Church teachings I can easily share my thoughts and some facts
about how it homosexual unions are not accepted by the Church. Also I plan to debunked
misconceptions about how the Church view and perceived homosexuals. Most of them would
usually say that the Church discriminates and pushes them away. But that is not true. The Church
alone encourages Catholics to help them and recognize them.
Ever since homosexuality became a thing. I have always been against the same-sex marriage.
Knowing the nature of marriage lets me really see the clear picture of why same-sex unions are
not morally good and disrespects the divine and natural law. I’ve always been open to people
expressing their gender and sexual orientations but I’m also against the acts and practices since
God made man and woman to complement each other and to be one flesh in marriage and to bear
children and multiply.
 A Critique on
“The Dignity and Vocation of Homosexual Persons”

In Partial Fulfilment
of the Course in
CHRISTIAN MORALITY

Pedro, Pauline S.
BSP-3