Church & Gay Marriage

[Lil Red]

What is the Church's 'official' teaching on gay marriage? what opinion can a Catholic legitimately hold and still be within Church teachings?

because personally, i'm conflicted about this. for many years (in Europe?) Catholics married in the Church were not legitimately recognized by the state. so i don't know that i think that the Church has any business asking the state to recognize the marriages it officiates. am i wrong? do i need to change my opinion?

Edited August 4, 2010 by Lil Red
re-worded

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='04 August 2010 - 04:35 PM' timestamp='1280957737' post='2152236']
What is the Church's 'official' teaching on gay marriage? what can opinion Catholic legitimately hold and still be within Church teachings?

because personally, i'm conflicted about this. for many years (in Europe?) Catholics married in the Church were not legitimately recognized by the state. so i don't know that i think that the Church has any business asking the state to recognize the marriages it officiates. am i wrong? do i need to change my opinion?
[/quote]
From the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's, "Considerations Regarding Proposals to give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons" [url="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html"][Link to Vatican Document][/url]

"11. The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society. Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behaviour, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself."

I will admit to struggling with this at well at times in my life. See, that's the problem. Deep down we want to be completely viewed as fair people. We don't want people to think that we, personally or Catholics in general are bigots or hate mongers. So we fight against things like firing someone just because they are gay, or against throwing them in jail for homosexual activities. Every step we take towards what we believe is social justice takes us one step closer to one step too far.

When I think about how much I love my husband, I want everyone to be able to experience that in their lives. I don't want to tell someone with SSA that they aren't entitled to the same happiness. I have to remind myself that they are entitled to marriage with someone of the opposite sex. Still, it can cause us to feel like we are bad people.

When it comes to something like this, I am allowed to disagree with the Church's teachings internally, but am called to educate myself so that my opinions will hopefully come into line with the teaching eventually. However, that is just an internal conflict. You can not teach publicly against the teaching as a catechist or teacher or youth minister. You can not as a judge or legislator vote contrary to the teaching. You couldn't participate in certifying a legal gay marriage such as a justice of the peace or judge or ship's captain. There are people here that are the US equivalent of justices of the peace who have resigned rather than be forced to perform a gay marriage.

I may not agree with a state's speed limit, but I obey the law, or I face a consequence. The Church works kind of like that too. With time and age, and further education, I have come to understand why we have to have such a firm line against gay marriage. It can definitely be a struggle though. I think the forces of darkness want to make it a struggle for us.