Sexual activity expresses the total gift of oneself to another in a faithful, committed relationship. The Church rejects any sexual activity outside of marriage. CCC 2380, 2388-90, 2352-56

We are persons who flourish only in mutual relationships with others. Thus, the Church supports Natural Family Planning and rejects masturbation, pornography, sexual exploitation, and anything else that depersonalizes and reduces sexuality to merely a source or personal pleasure. CCC 2352-56

This total gift of self also implies the openness to the gift of our fertility and the possible natural consequence of conceiving a child in every act of sexual intercourse. Thus, the Church rejects contraception which deliberately frustrates this possibility on particular occasions, and also rejects sterilization, which deliberately frustrates this possibility on every occasion. CCC 2297, 2368-70, 2399

We are persons made in the image of God and of infinite value. The Church rejects any artificial reproductive technologies that treat a child as a 'product' to be made rather than the fruit of the loving sexual union of the spouses. CCC 2337-79

Women and men are created by God to complete with one another the image of God who is love. The Church understands that persons who experience attraction towards others of the same gender face a profound challenge to their self-identity and understanding their sexuality and their call to love. The Church does not consider homosexual orientation to be sinful in itself, and insists that those whose orientation is homosexual be treated with respect as brothers and sisters in Christ. However, homosexual activity, like any sexual activity outside of marriage, cannot express the full meaning of God's plan for our sexual powers, and for this reason is rejected by the Church. CCC2357-59

We are persons who are both body and soul. Each person has the right to receive respect, privacy and protection from unwanted sexual attraction. CCC 2344, 1929-31

Note: CCC numbers refer to related articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

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