CHAPTER 7: MARRIAGE, FAMILY & SEXUAL ETHICS

Love as Foundation

Catholic moral theology

 Love is a choice, the foundation for a life-long commitment towards others

 Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual
growth.
 Love involves growth and process; effort in moving towards the good for oneself and others.
 Love as an act of will includes desire and infatuation.
 Love is an emotional participation in the beloved in its dynamism toward fulfillment.

In scripture, love for God is linked to love for neighbor.

God created human beings out of love and for love, and thus love becomes part of our universal
vocation.

Marriage, Celibacy, and Family

Marriage
 a loving union between man and woman in the Catholic Church, with both persons grounded in
the love of God and reflecting this love to each other and their community
 a gift given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses

Catholic moral theology allows for annulment but doesn’t allow for divorce
Annulment – cancels the marriage ultimately saying the marriage that happened was invalid
Divorce – Acknowledges that the marriage did happen but ends it anyway

Family
 becomes an icon that reveals God’s love
 center of formation and evangelization (for Filipino Catholic theology)
 domestic church – parents are the first preachers of the faith to their children
 basic cell of society

Sexual Ethics

Sexual Ethics – the study of ethics in relation to human sexuality, and sexual behavior
Sex is understood as good and as something precious; it is something to be cherished and treated with
respect and dignity. Margaret A. Farley

A. Sexuality and Being Human

- to be human is either male or female
- to be human is to be sexual is one’s very being
B. Sexuality and Human Relationships
- Just love – it must also be “true” to the one loving and to the nature of the relationship
between lover and loved
 Certain principles and norms for a just relationships and just sex (Farley, 2006):
1. Do no unjust harm to one’s partner
2. Respect the free consent and freedom of one’s spouse
3. There should be mutual participation and union in love and pleasure
4. There is equality between partners, dependence and vulnerability
5. There is long-term commitment between spouses
6. The relationship is fruitful, not just through having children
7. Social justice should affirm and respect the dignity of the spouses

C. Sexuality and Love

It is at this point that the relationship between the mother and father can be seen to be unique.
- the only two persons who made commitment unto death to be faithful to each other
- sexual union was not only the source of life of their children but also an outward sign of
their total gift of themselves to each other
- Sexual intimacy implies a deep-felt union that brings with it tremendous potential to develop
and strengthen the two people in love (Finley and Pennock, p. 126).

Church teaching:

- Fundamental component of personality: one of its modes of being, of manifestation, of

communicating with others, of feelings, of expressing and of living human life

Respect for human sexuality:

6th commandment: “Thou shall not commit adultery.” – aims to protect the family, the
absolutely necessary basis for society: forbids all impurity and immodesty

Prohibitions:
1. Incest – sexual acts between persons with direct blood relations (4th civil degree of
consanguinity)
2. Extramarital Sex – sexual activity with someone who is not his/her spouse
3. Divorce – judicial termination of an existing marriage relationship

9th commandment: “Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” - covetousness of heart

Moral Duties:
1. Be decent in your dress
2. Be pure in your acts
3. Be pure in your thoughts

Prohibitions:
1. Masturbation
2. Homosexuality – relationship between men or women who experience attraction
towards same sex
3. Pornography- removing real sexual acts from the intimacy of partners
4. Sexual Harassment- unwelcome attention of sexual nature
5. Phone Sex- sexually explicit conversation- masturbation
6. Impure Touching- arouse sexual passion outside proper use of sex
7. Petting and Necking- the purpose is to arouse passion that will lead to immoral actions
8. Kissing- for the purpose of arousing sexual passion
9. Indecent Dancing- arouses sexual cravings
10. Indecent Dress (Immodesty)- can lead others to commit sin
11. Impure Shows/X-rated Movies- can lead people to commit sin
12. Impure Thoughts and Desires- consents to the thoughts and desires

New Testament Teaching – warns us on covetousness and lust

Gender and Sexual Orientation - The Catholic Church teaches on the complementarity of the
sexes. Complementarity argues that men and women have different but complementary
roles in society, based on Scripture and natural law.

S. & M.