THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON HUMAN SEXUALITY
4.7 CONCLUSION
1. "Any truly sexual intercourse is an act of mutual self-giving by means of which two people express their willingness to assume unconditional responsibility for each other.
2. Human sexual love in its full richness is to reflect the quality of God's love for us; therefore, just as his love is creative and faithful, so also must human sexual love, when fully realised, be open to procreation and permanent fidelity;
marriage is the context in which this full richness can be best achieved.
3. Pre-marital sex is not sufficiently appreciated of the fact that for human activity to be moral, it must be socially sensitive. Marriage is an institution that is intended to enhance personalrelation~hips by offering some defence against human immaturity, self-seeking and false protestations oflove.
4. Finally, the perception of chastity as honesty in sex- such that physical relationships must truthfully express the degree of personal commitment
between two people - would seem to be of special pertinence to those Christians who regard marriage as a sacramental reality... "(1987: 188).
Modem theology sees marriage as a vocation to holiness. This affirms the call to witness and holiness as open to everybody. This is a call to marriage partners to acknowledge that they are called for the sanctification of each other and their family in marriage. By being open to the grace of marriage the married couple assists each other on their way to salvation. Marriage is also seen as being at the service of life.
This means that marriage, and the marriage act, should be open to conception, so as to be ready to serve the procreation of new life. A family should be ready to serve life in the community around itself Ifa family is closed on itself it defeats the aim of being of service to life and to humankind.
marriage. To those who are not bound in marriage the Church has consistently . taught abstinence. To thosewithinmarriage the Church continues to teach fidelity
to each other. This stance of the Church, as we have it today, has been handed down to this age from the era of the Early Church.
Catholic theology sees Genesis 2:24 as affinning that a marital relationship takes precedence over one's family of origin It was commonly held that this 'two in one flesh' text refers to the sexual union of spouses. Itis clear that this imagery used in the Genesis mandate refers to the love relationship that is established in marriage.
This relationship is a joining of two lives, thus affirming their unique individuality.
Inmarriage a couple commit themselves totally to one another until death.
The traditional explanation of the mystery of the Holy Trinity is God as a community oflove. This love binds the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity and keeps them together. This image of the Holy Trinity is a model on which the idea of marriage should be built. A married couple is supposed to be so one in mind and heart that the two of them cannot be separated. The mutual self-giving in love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit should be reflected in the love of husband and wife. Itis when marriage is modelled according to the image of the Holy Trinity that it attains its aim and fulfilment. While loving each other and sharing their being, the husband and wife remain unique individuals. They are not assimilated into each other.
Inthe concept of the Holy Trinity the identities of the three persons is not diminished but enhanced. While trying to emulate the Holy Trinity marriage
becomes both a gift and a challenge.Ittook some time for the Church to appreciate sex as one of the many good things created by God. The possibility of the Early Church appreciating sex as spiritually good was impossible. This was caused by the influence of dualism The Joseph-Mary unionsl8were valued higher than those "vith sexual relations. Such dualistic anthropology was inherited from the Greeks. It compartmentalised the human being into body and soul, The soul was seen as imprisoned in the body. Thomas (1983) sees a husband and a wife as the smallest human community. He states that Christian marriage creates a personal spiritual
18Marriages without sexual intercourse.
union between husband and wife. What marriage provides for sexual love is a . context for the fullest meaning of that kind oflove, where that love can be
protected, directed and enhanced in relation to the fuller dimensions of wife- husband union Jesus took a stand in support of marriage. He rejected the current views on divorce and marriage. For him marriage was very deep and profound. It involved interior attitudes and thoughts. The totality of the person was affected.
The Catholic Church has been teaching about sex and sexuality from its
beginnings. During the Early Church it taught about the three goods, namely, the proles. fides and sacramentum. This teaching is so fundamental that it is the basis of the Church's teaching even today. Throughout the ages the Church encountered some challenges and it continued to uphold sexual intercourse within marriage as good and willed by God. Through the pronouncements of councils down through the ages the Church taught that the proper place for sexual intercourse is in marriage, which creates a bond that lasts until death. As marriage became a public affair, with the minister and witnesses involved it became clear that marriage affects the overall life of the Church. Matrimony slowly and cautiously evolved into a sacrament that imparts grace on the couple for them to live out their vocation as married people.
Male and female were created for each other, so that they could find fulfilment in each other. Neuner and Duipis state that "God has created the human race in the complementarity of the sexes so that man and woman may find fulfilment through a mutual union ordained by the Creator to the generation of new human life".
(1986:659).
The Sacrament of Matrimony, which unites husband and wife together signifies the unity of Christ and the Church. As Christ is united with his Church forever so it is the will of Christ that those who bind themselves together in Matrimony should never be separated, as long as they are still alive. Inmarriage the spouses receive the grace to love each with the love of Christ. Through the consent that the spouses give to each other they bind themselves to live for each other so as to be able to live a
fruitful
and faithful love. Aninteresting evolution in Catholic theology concerning marriage was the acknowledgement of the fact that the couple administer the Sacrament of Matrimony to each other. The presence of the minister and thewitnesses is important, for they are representatives of the Church and the
. community. The couple, by making their promises to each other, bind themselves to one another in a visible way. They also implore the help of the Holy Spirit upon themselves to help them in becoming a good sign oflove and unity that exists in the Godhead. Such an exclusive love rules polygamy out of the question. Divorce is also seen as contravening the law of God. Inall the different contexts and challenges the Church taught that marriage is for love and procreation. An
important documentinthis regard wasHumanae Vitae (1968). Inthis document the Pope maintains that the unitive and procreative aspects of the marital act should not be separated. One aspect of the marital act should not be undermined in favour of the other. If one aspect is undermined the fmality of the marital is not respected.
The finality of the marital act is for the unity of husband and wife and for
procreation. This is the traditional teaching of the Church that still holds today, and is against all forms of artificial birth controls. Matrimony, by its definition, includes an openness to fertility which results in the building up of a family, and therefore, contributing to the growth of the human family.
The Synod of Bishops who gathered for the Special Assembly for Africa in (1996) produced a document entitledEcc/essia in Africa. The Synod held by bishops, pastors, together with Pope John Paul II was aimed at being an occasion of hope for Africa This document looked at the challenges and future proposals of
evangelisation in Africa on the threshold of the third millennium of the Christian faith.
The Synod states that the future of the world and that of the Church passes through the family. It made an appeal to each Christian family to be a place where
evangelism and love that serves humanity will flourish. Itgoes on to talk about the dignity of man and woman. Such dignity derives from the fact that male and female are created in the likeness of God. The fact of creation makes them essentially equal from the point of view of their humanity.
The synod sees the marriage of a baptised person as a symbol of the new and eternal covenant that was sanctioned in the blood of Christ, which in turn demands
indissoluble love. Marriage has a special mission in the world, which is to
perpetuate humanity. The synod rejected all cultures in Africa that do not give the . woman her right as an equal partner with the man in marriage. The inequality that
is perpetuated by some African cultures does not contribute to the goodness and the holiness of marriage.
Curran (1977) summarises the standpoint of Catholic theology. He states that sex outside marriage is wrong. This is because sexuality calls for some degree of personal relationship and commitment. One of the ways of showing personal responsibility and commitment is through marriage. There are a lot of questions about trial marriages, compatibility and couples living together without marriage.
This situation is aggravated by the rate of divorce in these modem times. The Church still believes that sex belongs to marriage, in this atmosphere of sexual licentiousness, where mass media promotes values that are contrary to gospel values. Such marriage was ordained by God, and given a special place by Jesus attending the wedding at Cana Itis God's intention that those who are married should never be separated from each other. Insuch activities one accepts the responsibility of another. To accept full responsibility of another means that the persons are fully committed to one another. The biblical understanding sees the two-in-one -flesh as the sign of the total giving of one to the other in marriage. God created man and woman and declared them husband and wife, thus he gave a special blessing to the marital union. Connell ( 1953) sees the comparison that Paul makes between the union of the Christian husband and wife with the union of Christ and his Church as alluding to the sacredness of the union of husband and wife, which produces grace for the married couple.19
The Churchhas been consistentinits teachings on human sexuality down through the ages. It has aimed at preserving the institution of marriage through difficult times. Ithas also responded to threats that were directed towards the family and continued to be faithful to the teachings that come down from the Patristics.
19Ephesians 5: 25-32.