Catholics and Asexuality

[ThomasinaAquinas]

I'm Catholic and the "ladies" at my church offered (or, maybe threatened) to "pray over me" so that I would "find a man." Puke. There is enormous social pressure within the Catholic church, not from priests or nuns, but from the lay people themselves, that Everyone Must Be Married! And I don't get it. It's like these married women feel threatened by an independent single woman who has a career and a mind of her own. Sad, ain't it?

Wow. Do you live in a very conservative area? They sound pretty misguided, and I think, erroneous in their actions. In my case, I didn't even think of myself as asexual until it was suggested to me because my catholic environment was very lacking in any overt pressure to marry. I knew all about the role of sex in marriage (and of course it being seen as a good), but I never got pressure to conform to media hype about sex or relationships. In fact my mom encouraged me to focus on my education (and I completely skipped the boy crush stage, so I never got interested in boys). Although I think I'm not destined to ever be a nun, I did consider consecrated virgin/happy single life for a while as a legitimate, approved lifestyle. I'm a very happy asexual catholic and I find that my religion fits very well with my orientation :).

[GayPhilosopher]

Does anyone know if within the catholic religion, asexuality is recognized (i think not, but just checking..)

So if it isnt recognized, is it technically against Catholocism to be asexual?

I mean, heck, if anything they should EMBRACE asexuals!! No sex = good, right?! lol

I would like to address the last sentence in your post, since it is a complete wrong. Catholic teaching on sex is not that it is bad, but that it is down right sacred, good in the truest sense of the word. In fact, the Church teaches that if a person is a healthy, sexually functioning individual, it is wrong to persistently deny sex to one's spouse. The denial of such affection is cruel. Now, this does not mean that asexuals or those who suffer from a traumatic experience must be willing to engage in sex anytime, but it does mean that those who have a regular sexual function should not be hurtful by denying their spouses sex.

For Catholics, sex is part of God's plan for humanity; it is a sign of our outward-directedness to the Other and away from selfishness.One can read all about this is Pope St. John Paul II's work The Theology of the Body.

Some might disagree with the Church's teaching on particular sex acts like masturbation, homosexual sex, premarital sex, etc., but one should be informed on the foundation of Catholic teaching before attacking.

[GayPhilosopher]

I'm Catholic and the "ladies" at my church offered (or, maybe threatened) to "pray over me" so that I would "find a man." Puke. There is enormous social pressure within the Catholic church, not from priests or nuns, but from the lay people themselves, that Everyone Must Be Married! And I don't get it. It's like these married women feel threatened by an independent single woman who has a career and a mind of her own. Sad, ain't it?

Wow. Do you live in a very conservative area? They sound pretty misguided, and I think, erroneous in their actions. In my case, I didn't even think of myself as asexual until it was suggested to me because my catholic environment was very lacking in any overt pressure to marry. I knew all about the role of sex in marriage (and of course it being seen as a good), but I never got pressure to conform to media hype about sex or relationships. In fact my mom encouraged me to focus on my education (and I completely skipped the boy crush stage, so I never got interested in boys). Although I think I'm not destined to ever be a nun, I did consider consecrated virgin/happy single life for a while as a legitimate, approved lifestyle. I'm a very happy asexual catholic and I find that my religion fits very well with my orientation :).

I have a sister who is a beautiful woman and a very devout Catholic. While she does not see herself as asexual, she is more than happy to live a celibate life and has no desire to marry.

[GayPhilosopher]

Catholicism will never recognize asexuality as more than celibacy as it is against the reproductive nature. Homosexuality is considered a sin by Catholicism because it is the act of sex without the function of reproduction. Asexuals generally do not have sex but the lack of desire to procreate could also be construed as a sin against God's will for you to procreate. If you told a Catholic priest you were asexual he would most likely tell you that it's good that you are being celibate/abstinent and that you will find the right partner to marry and have children with.

I'm gay and Catholic, and I would say that you have misrepresented Catholic teaching a bit. It is not merely the fact that homosexual acts are non-reproductive in nature that leads the Church to oppose such acts, but it is that they are intrinsically sterile. The Church has no problem with a heterosexual couple marrying, even if one of the spouses is sterile. The problem with homosexuality, in the Church's view, is that it fails to take into account the physical (and thus spiritual) complementarity of the sexes.

[PiF]

Let's try not to derail the thread everyone.

Let's focus on the intersection of asexuality and Christianity, and keep in mind that making generalisations about Christians or Catholics is about as untruthful as making generalisations about asexuals. If anyone wants to talk about other aspects of Catholicism, please feel free to create a new thread.

Thanks!

Heart

Asexual Q&A Moderator

lets try and also notice someone resurrected a 6 year old thread :lol:

[Feathers]

I was raised Catholic, but didn't know what asexuality was until very recently. I would guess that it would not be frowned upon, but I am not sure. Celibacy is accepted, and sometimes praised. Though the homosexual "anti-reproduction" argument may have some influence over it...although obviously both homosexuals and asexuals can reproduce if they want to. Silly arguments.

As far as Jesus being asexual - He is the Son of God, and the human embodiment of God. I do not think He had any desire to partake in such trivial earthly things, but who knows!

Interesting topic! I may go ask a priest in my area because now I'm curious!

[Acellan]

lolI am somewhat curious as to why you think the Catholic Church WOULD "recognise" asexuality? The Church isn't concerned about what people ARE but with what they DO. As the for "No sex = good" all I will say is that it is a gross oversimplification and most certainly not correct. "No sex" is, for example, grounds for the annulment of a marriage and so hardly comes into the "good" category then, does it?roddy

This is COMPLETELY accurate. The church doctrine does not support homosexual acts but does not condem the feelings themselves. From what I understand there is no official doctrine on asexuals one way or another. One priest may tell you "A sexuality is a sin" while another will tell you the opposite. Priest are inconsistant like that. I was born, raised, and still am catholic and if I get a chance I will make sure to ask one or two for you. If I can find one who even knows what asexuality is... (Especially since my autocorrect keeps "fixing" the word for me)

Also I apologize if my attempt at italics falls through....

Also a helpful tip for anyone getting a rejection from any church is that the bible does not say "throw the sinners out" it says "help them and support them" And send them along to Matthew 7: 1-2

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Hopefully quoting bible verses will throw them off!

[(A) puerto Rican]

Well i doubt that the Catholic Church recognizes Asexuality, but their more willing to except them then the other christian religions sense the Catholic church have shown to be more accepting towards gays,lesbians,bisexuals, plus they also agree to the idea of science and the big bang so maybe there willing to accept them.

[Aquaria]

This quite a bit late, but here is my opinion. The Catholic Church is not a bunch of people going "No Sex = Good! Always be a virgin or else you will go to hell!". What they want is for their people to act with celibacy and chastity. They promote procreation as a whole, but only in a Catholic, heterosexual marriage! So, I don't think the Church would "accept" asexuality, they would either mislabel it as celibacy/abstinence or group it with the general queer LGBT+ community and teach against it, because asexuality leads away from healthy procreation. I believe that if an asexual couple were to go to a priest, explain their situation, the priest would refuse. Marriage is for families, so obviously they expect sex and children. I actually asked someone who is quite learned in the Catholic teachings, about their opinion, his response for general queers is "God made a man and a woman, and they are made to be unified in the Church, and to create together." Which is part of why homosexuals are looked down upon, because they cannot naturally procreate, the same would go for asexuals. I then asked about a straight, Catholic couple, who were infertile, if the Church would marry them. His only response was "Well, why would they want to get married in the first place?" I tried to explain that marriage is more than children, that they would want to be together, grow old together, maybe adopt children, but I don't think my point was made very well. It frustrates me that that is how we might be treated. That the Church would deny a couple the right to get married and live together because they couldn't have children, but if they just started to live together, the Church would look down on them.

Mind you all of this is just my opinion, I could be very wrong. Anyway, hoped this helped.

(I grew up and was raised in a very Catholic family.)

[Mr. Quickhands]

I also grew up Catholic and probably can't really call myself Catholic anymore. However, I'm pretty sure the Church does recognize that homosexuality is a thing, it's just that homosexual Catholics are expected to be celibate and serve God some other way. I don't think they take issue with asexuality in the least. Infertile couples also get married, but they either adopt or, just as in the case of celibate single people, "find some other way to dedicate their lives to God" or something like that.

The Catholic Church is generally very forward-thinking on scientific issues, just not necessarily the social ones. I don't think they would reject asexuality at all, especially since nuns and priests are expected to be celibate their entire lives. If there's something here to take issue with, it's that they allow a "man and woman" couple to get married and adopt, but not a homosexual couple despite the fact that they could raise a family that way just as effectively. But that's just one of the many unmoving social relics of Church doctrine.

If there's an issue with Catholic communities saying their children must get married and have kids no matter what, that's almost certainly a regional issue. There are definitely more ways than that to be a "good Catholic". The Church very very usually has this problem of various regional communities ignoring what the higher-ups say and making the own brand of (usually more conservative) Catholicism. It's one of the huge issues I take with the US Catholic bishops despite the fact that I'm not really Catholic anymore.

[zoomer912]

On 2/27/2008 at 3:19 PM, natsume said:

Catholicism will never recognize asexuality as more than celibacy as it is against the reproductive nature. Homosexuality is considered a sin by Catholicism because it is the act of sex without the function of reproduction. Asexuals generally do not have sex but the lack of desire to procreate could also be construed as a sin against God's will for you to procreate. If you told a Catholic priest you were asexual he would most likely tell you that it's good that you are being celibate/abstinent and that you will find the right partner to marry and have children with.

Indeed, that's what I was always thinking about and it is confusing to me and kept fighting in my minds.

As if a priest might suggest me to be a nun but inside me it won't be a call for me.

And if I choose marriage then I have to procreate.

While the answer is I am asexual. 😟