Catholic Church and homosexuality

The Catholic Church condemns same-sex sexual activity and denies the validity of same-sex marriage. While the Church opposes "unjust" discrimination against homosexual persons, it supports what it considers "just" discrimination in the employment of teachers or athletic coaches, in adoption, in the military and in housing. The Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II considers sexual activity between members of the same sex to be a grave sin against chastity and sees homosexual attraction as objectively disordered. However, the Catechism also states that homosexuals "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity". This teaching has developed through papal interventions, and influenced by theologians, including the Church Fathers.

In March 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that the church cannot bless same-sex relationships because "God cannot bless sin". On 18 December 2023, it published Fiducia supplicans, a declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless people who are not considered to be married by the Church, including same-sex couples.

The church provides pastoral care for LGBT Catholics through a variety of official and unofficial channels that vary from diocese to diocese, and senior clergy and popes have recently begun to call for the church to do more. In many parts of the world, the Church is active politically on issues of LGBT rights. The relationship between the Catholic Church and the LGBT community has been a difficult one, especially during the height of the AIDS crisis, and World War II Nazi Germany.

There have been notable Catholics who were gay or bisexual, including priests and bishops. Catholic dissenters from the official teaching say that love between people of the same sex is as spiritually valuable as love between people of the opposite sex and that LGBT Catholics are as much members of the body of Christ as heterosexuals are. Catholic organizations that support the teaching often campaign against gay rights, and argue that gay people should be celibate.

Pope Francis was the first pope to support same-sex civil unions as legal protections for same-sex couples. He has denounced laws criminalising homosexuality.