The Church and Same-Sex Unions
According to the Catechism or teaching of the Church, men and women with homosexual tendencies “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided”CCC2358. The Church therefore upholds their dignity as human persons, and our own beloved Pope Francis exhorts us time and again to refrain from judgement and to be agents of God’s mercy. Many of us have family members who have same sex attractions, whom we love as any other member of our family.
What then about marriage is so special, that requires safeguarding and protecting? What is this “fullness and greatness of marriage with thousands of years of value that deserves to be defended,” that our Pope speaks about?
For the Church, the family founded on the union of one man and one woman, in a lifelong commitment ordered toward mutual love and the procreation and education of children, is the guarantee for society against social fragmentation. The apparent rights of any one person cannot usurp the common good of all, and thus that fundamental good of society, the right of children to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for growth and emotional development, continues to be the exhortation of the Church.
The Church also recognizes, that the continuation of society is fundamentally dependent on the marriage between men and women as their sexual complementarity remains open to the gift of life. Same sex unions remain incapable of bringing forth life. Pope Francis thus stresses the “indispensable” contribution of marriage to society, a contribution which “transcends feelings and momentary needs of the couple.”
The Church cannot see same sex marriage as an issue of exclusion from an institution that confers legitimacy and happiness. She instead sees marriage as an institution that confers particular rights, because it bears particular duties and responsibilities not only for the couple, but for their children and society at large.
Marriage is not seen as a rubber stamp for any union of persons, nor as a means to obtain civil privileges, which can easily be guaranteed by existing laws. We may all be equal in dignity, and share many rights in common because of this dignity, but we must honestly admit to differences in our gifts, talents and capabilities. Let us then be cautious, lest the pursuit of liberty grants permission or license to changes and actions that would ultimately have harmful consequences for the person as well as society.
