There isn't a blanket thought about this among Catholics, but a great many Catholics believe that homosexuality is a sin. This is simply not supported by Scripture, though.
Let’s start at the beginning -- literally, with the book of Genesis. Genesis 1 and 2 are both accounts of the creation story. Let’s look at Genesis 2 for a moment as it gets into greater detail about Adam and Eve. Particularly, there is one verse after Eve is created from Adam’s rib that is of importance.
24(Z)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
You’ve probably heard protests where people yell things like “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!” These people believe that, because the first two people created were a man and a woman, this means that any other type of relationship is “against nature” and thus “sinful.” However, look at this verse again and, if you have the time, read for yourself the entire creation story. Is anything said there about men being with men or women being with women? No! The only relationship mentioned is between a man and a woman. Logically, one cannot make an argument from silence. This passage isn’t even relevant to the concept of homosexuality.
Next, let’s look at a passage that even people who aren’t Christians often firmly believe condemns homosexuality; the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I will read an important excerpt below.
Genesis 19:1-5
1Now the (A)two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of
Sodom When (B)Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2And he said, "Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way." They said however, "No, but we shall spend the night in the square." 3Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; (C)and he
prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4Before they lay down, (D)the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 5and they called to Lot and said to him, "(E)Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them."
In some versions the ending point here “have relations with them” is written as “know them.” Either way, what is understood here is that the people of the city wanted to have sex with the visitors. Seems like homosexuality, right? Wrong. First of all, throughout the Bible the terms “man” and “men” are used not to describe a gender, but to mean mankind. A large number of theologians believe that it was not just men who were at Lot’s door that night, but the entire city. Also, it is important to realize the historical context. During this time, when a group of people overthrew another group, one of the most common ways of humiliating their captives was by men raping the men; thus degrading them.
What we have here in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not an account of a loving relationship between two men. It is an account of gang rape, mean to humiliate the visitors at Lot’s home.
Those who wish to delve deeper into this topic might point out “well what about Jude 1:7?” Good question. Let’s see what it says. 7just as (W)Sodom and Gomorrah and the (X)cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and (Y)went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an (Z)example in undergoing the (AA)punishment of eternal fire.
Focus for a moment on one portion of this… “Strange flesh.” This would seem to back up the theory that this passage is a direct condemnation of homosexuality, wouldn’t it? To answer this, let’s re-visit the story; specifically the very beginning when these visitors first appeared to Lot in Genesis 19:1-2
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”
The very beginning of this answers our query. “Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening.” These visitors were not human beings. They were angels of the Lord. The people of the city were wanting to rape angels…..not humans. Thus, strange flesh.
Lastly on the topic of Sodom and Gomorrah, many people don’t realize that later on in Scripture we are told directly why Sodom was destroyed. I’ll show you what I mean. Ezekiel 16:49-50 says 49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit
This alone should pretty much answer any remaining question. Homosexuality is NOT
mentioned here as a reason for the destruction of Sodom. The reasons listed were that the
people of Sodom “had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness and did not help
the poor and needy. They were haughty and committed abomination.” Where in here is
homosexuality mentioned? Many will say “well see, they committed an abomination.”
Of course they did! Who wouldn’t consider wanting to gang rape angels an abomination?!?!
With that passage put to rest, let’s move on to later in the OT.
Leviticus 18:22 Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
This seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? On the surface, it looks as though homosexual sex between two men is being condemned. And it is, in a way. Focus for a moment on the word detestable. In most translations, it says “abomination.” The original texts use the term to’eba, which means abomination. However, to’eba doesn’t mean sin. Wearing mixed fabric clothing and eating “unclean” meat were also referred to as to’eba. To’eba is a cultural taboo of sorts; something that a culture of people deems unclean, or wrong, or impure. Nothing suggests that these same taboos are actually sinful in the eyes of the Lord. Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. Again, a cultural rule. It says nothing of what God’s views on this matter are, only what the cultural punishment for this “offense.” is.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders [arsenokoitai] 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Timothy 1:9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10for adulterers and perverts [arsenokoitais], for slave traders and liars and perjurers...
In these passages, two terms are used. Malakoi means "soft" or "weak.” Nothing in the original text suggests that “effeminate” is an accurate translation, as many believe. While not synonymous for pederasty (love, often sexual love, of young boys), malakoi is a term that was used in first century C.E. to describe people involved in this type of behavior. Thus the use of malakos makes a lot of sense in reference to a call boy.
Arsenokoitai, also used in this passage, is a combination of two words meaning "male" and sexual intercourse," but the nature of this sexual activity is unknown.
As recently as the twelfth century, lists of verses pertaining to homosexuality did not list either 1 Cor 6:6-10 or 1 Tim 1:10. Frankly that wouldn’t make a lot of sense of the clear meaning of the passages referred to homosexuality. These passages may be taken to refer to male sexual activity such as prostitution, or pederasty as I mentioned before, but whether homosexuality is included in this can’t be proven. One thing can be determined from these texts, though, and that is the condemnation of exploitive sexual acts such as prostitution and the use of children as sexual objects by adults.
Finally,
Romans 1:26-27 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural [para physin] ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
This passage describes the events of a fertility ritual celebrated in honor of pagan gods. The belief of the people engaging in the ritual was that the gods were gods that were appeased with sex. The more sex the people had, the happier they believed the gods would be. Therefore, they engaged in as much sex as was possible. It wasn’t just men having sex with women, or women having sex with women or men having sex with men. From the way many history books have portrayed it, it was men and women having sex with essentially anything and everything they could in an effort to please the gods.
When you realize that, the passage makes no sense as one that would condemn homosexual relationships any more than heterosexual relationships. The people I know who are in homosexual relationships don’t believe it to be just