The Bible clearly teaches that marriage is exclusively for one man and one woman . . .
Two men cannot legitimately marry each other, nor can two women — no matter what any earthly judicial or legislative body may say.
God created man in his image and likeness. He created them male and female, so that through marriage they might reflect the communal love of the Holy Trinity (see Gen 1:26-28). From all eternity, the Father pours his entire being into his Son, and the Son into the Father. The eternal bond of love between Father and Son is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. This is an oversimplified explanation of a most profound mystery, the community of persons in whose image we were created.
A man and a woman become one in marriage in a mysterious way that reveals the unity shared by the Father and the Son (see Jn 17:22-23). As the infinitely loving bond between the Father and Son constitutes the third person of the Trinity, so in a similar way a child embodies the love of a husband and wife. The union of husband and wife is so profound that nine months later the couple often has to give it a name when a child is born! That is why the Church teaches that marriage is a communion of life and love ordered toward the good of the couple and the procreation and education of children — and that there is an unbreakable bond between the love-giving and life-giving aspects of marital love.
God’s wonderful plan for marriage allows husband and wife to make up for each other’s deficiencies and thereby complete each other (see Gen 2:18). This is known as complementarity, in which the husband and wife become one through the mutual giving and receiving of marital relations. This unity is reflected in the crowning fruit of their union: children. Although some married couples unfortunately cannot have children, they still complete one another through the expression of mutual love.
In contrast, homosexual activity lacks complementarity, but rather involves an illusory and vain attempt at communion. Under no circumstances can it be approved (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2357).
If we abandon the monogamous union of husband and wife as the standard of marriage, there will be no logical argument against “marriages” between homosexuals as well as among polygamous heterosexuals. Government endorsement of homosexual “marriages” necessarily implies the acceptance of decadent polygamy and will only further undermine the moral fiber of our society.
As is the case with every dysfunction within the home, children suffer the most from the homosexual relationships of their parents. Children adopted into a “family” of homosexual “parents” will probably never experience the natural beauty of a true marital relationship. Furthermore, homosexual unions often promote the development of reproductive technology to the exclusion of procreation according to God’s design. (Click here for a related link) Such technology makes the child a mere “product” and denies the child the natural dignity and respect he deserves.
This column is reprinted with permission from “Faith Facts: Answers to Catholic Questions, Vol. 1,” by Leon J. Suprenant Jr. and Philip C.L. Gray (Emmaus Road Publishing, 1999).
Catechism 101
A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The “supreme gift of marriage” is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right “to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents” and “the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception.”
The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical procedures should unite themselves with the Lord’s Cross, the source of all spiritual fecundity. They can give expression to their generosity by adopting abandoned children or performing demanding services for others.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2378-79