1. “You shall not commit adultery.”
-Ex. 20:14
“Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife.”
-Deuteronomy 5:21
The 6th &
9th
Commandment
s
2. Mankind was created male and female. This twofold nature of
mankind is that of sexuality, which affects the entire human
person in the unity of body and soul.
“It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and
procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming
bonds of communion with others” (CCC 2332).
Sexual identity is an essential part of the human person, and is
not accidental to them; that is to say, it is willed directly by
God and is part of who He creates us to be.
The differences and the complementarities among the sexes are
meant to contribute towards the harmonious union of man
and woman in marriage and the flourishing of family life.
In the Beginning
3. In creating both male and female in His image, God endows
each with the same personal dignity, though this dignity is
expressed in different ways.
Nevertheless, it is in the union of these two sexes that the
life-giving love and creative power of their Creator are most
perfectly imitated.
All human life proceeds from this union of man and woman.
The Church sees the distinctions between the sexes not as
antagonistic differences, but as complimentary differences:
man and woman were created for each other by God:
“Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and
cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen.2:24).
In the Beginning
4. The sixth commandment, together with the
ninth, encompass the whole of human
sexuality, both in its external manifestation
and in its interior dispositions.
Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it
was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I say
to you that everyone who looks at a woman
lustfully has already committed adultery with
her in his heart…What God has joined
together, let no man put asunder” (Matt. 5:27-
28, 19:6).
Sermon on the Mount
5. All persons are called to chastity. Chastity is the right
use of the sexual appetite, its successful integration
within the person and as such is a form of the virtue of
temperance.
It brings about an inner unity of man in his bodily and
spiritual being.
This is true of both persons in the married state and
those called to a life of consecrated virginity.
The chaste person maintains integrity of the powers of
life and love within him: the procreative process is
wedded to the unitive.
The Call to Chastity
6. Chastity includes training in self-mastery, which is
training in human freedom.
Either man governs his passions, or finds himself
governed by them.
Besides being a moral virtue, chastity is a grace of
God, and a fruit of spiritual effort. It ought to be
prayed for fervently as a gift from the Father Who
wills all His children to walk in purity.
People ought to cultivate the form of chastity proper
to their state in life.
Married persons are called to live in conjugal chastity,
while consecrated celibates live a life of chaste
continence.
The Call to Chastity
7. Lust is a disordered desire for physical sexual pleasure.
Seeking sexual pleasure in itself apart from its unitive
and procreative aspects is morally disordered.
Masturbation, the deliberate stimulation of the sexual
organs for sexual pleasure, is a gravely disordered action.
“One must take into account the affective immaturity, force
of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other social and
psychological factors” when determining culpability (CCC
2352).
Fornication is the sexual union of an unmarried man and
an unmarried woman.
Sins against Chastity
8. Pornography, the removing of real or simulated sex acts from the
intimacy of the partners in order to intentionally display them to a
third party. “It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal
act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to
the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each
one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It
immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a
grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and
distribution of pornographic materials” (CCC 2354).
Prostitution reduces the person to an instrument of sexual pleasure.
Both the ones who sell themselves and the ones who pay gravely
violate chastity.
Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another. It is
always a grave sin.
Sins against Chastity
9. Homosexuality refers to people who experience an
exclusive or predominant attraction to people of the
same sex.
The Church does not make any claim about what causes
this attraction.
The inclination itself is objectively disordered (CCC 2358)
whether or not it is acted upon, but the culpability of the
person can vary depending on the degree to which the
attraction is voluntary or involuntary.
Homosexual acts are always wrong and are intrinsically
disordered. Scripture presents them as acts of grave
depravity (Gen. 19:1-29, Rom. 1:24-27, 1. Cor. 6:10)
Homosexuality
10. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.
Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1
Cor. 6:9-10).
Homosexual acts are contrary to the natural law,
close the sexual act to the gift of life and do not
proceed from a genuine affective and sexual
complimentarity. They cannot be approved under
any circumstances (CCC 2357).
Homosexuality
11. Homosexual persons are called to chastity, just like all
people.
By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom,
at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer
and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and
resolutely approach Christian perfection. -CCC 2359
Homosexuals ought not to be unjustly discriminated
against and ought to be given the dignity and respect due to
all persons. They are called to unite to the sacrifice of the
cross the difficulties they may encounter from their
condition.
Homosexuality
12. Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and
woman. In marriage, the physical intimacy of the
partners becomes a sign and pledge of their spiritual
communion.
Marriage bonds between the baptized are sanctified
by the sacrament.
Sexuality is not simply biological, but concerns the
whole person, body and soul.
It is only fully realized when it is used within the
context of the marital commitment, when a man and a
woman commit themselves to each other totally until
death.
The Bond of Man and Wife
13. The sexual acts of marriage are honorable
and noble. They signify the self-giving, joy
and gratitude of the spouses in their
commitment to one another.
Marriage has a twofold end: the good of the
spouses themselves, and the transmission of
life.
These two ends cannot be separated without
compromising the goods of marriage and the
future of the family. Thus, all married persons
have two obligations: fidelity and fecundity.
The Bond of Man and Wife
14. Fidelity pertains to the good of the
spouses themselves. The covenant they
contract is unique and indissoluble.
“What God has joined together, let not
man put asunder” (Mark 10:9).
The sacrament of Matrimony enables
man and woman to enter into the fidelity
of Christ to His Church. Marital fidelity is
thus an expression of the love of Christ
for His Church. St. Paul calls this a “great
mystery” (Eph. 5:32).
Marital Fidelity
15. Fecundity refers to the fruitfulness of
marriage expressed in terms of children.
It is a gift, an end of marriage, because
marital love tends naturally to be fruitful.
The child does not come from outside the
marriage, but springs forth from the very
heart of the self-giving of the spouses, as its
fruit and its fulfillment.
Fruitfulness of Marriage
16. The Church teaches that “each and every
marriage act must remain open to the
transmission of life” (Humanae Vitae,
11).
This establishes a connection between
the unitive aspect of marriage and the
procreative, a connection that is
ordained by God and cannot be divided.
Fruitfulness of Marriage
17. Through procreation (Latin: to create with), spouses share in the
creative power and fatherhood of God.
A particular aspect of this conjugal responsibility is the regulation of
births. The Catechism says the following (important points in bold):
For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children.
It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by
selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to
responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to
the objective criteria of morality: When it is a question of harmonizing
married love with the responsible transmission of life, the morality of
the behavior does not depend on sincere intention and evaluation
of motives alone; but it must be determined by objective criteria,
criteria drawn from the nature of the person and his acts criteria that
respect the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human
procreation in the context of true love; this is possible only if the virtue
of married chastity is practiced with sincerity of heart. -CCC 2368
Fruitfulness of Marriage
18. Licit regulation of births can be brought about
by periodic continence based on the use of
natural infertile periods.
These methods respect the bodies of the spouses
and encourage tenderness between them.
In contrast: “Every action which, whether in
anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its
accomplishment, or in the development of its
natural consequences, proposes, whether as an
end or as a means, to render procreation
impossible is intrinsically evil” (HV 14).
Fruitfulness of Marriage
19. Sterile couples who desire children suffer greatly, and research aimed
at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged.
Nevertheless, techniques that cause the disassociation of husband and
wife (by the intrusion of another person’s sperm or ovum) are gravely
immoral and infringe upon the child’s right to be born to a father and
mother bound together by marriage.
Techniques involving only the married couple, while less
reprehensible, are nevertheless not acceptable insofar as they
disassociate the sexual act from the procreative act. .
We must remember that a child is not something “owed” to someone;
nobody has a “right” to a child. A child is a gift that proceeds from the
love of the spouses. Furthermore, sterility is not an absolute evil.
Sterile persons can give expression to their generosity by adopting
abandoned children or performing other acts of charity (see CCC 2377-
2379).
Fruitfulness of Marriage
20. Adultery refers to marital infidelity. The sixth
commandment condemns adultery absolutely
and the ninth commandment forbids even the
desire for it.
Divorce is the claim to break the marriage
contract. It does injury to the covenant of
salvation, of which marriage is a sign. It is not
only impermissible, but also impossible, since “a
ratified and consummated marriage cannot be
dissolved by any human power for any reason
other than death” (Code of Canon Law, 1141).
Offenses Against the Dignity of
Marriage
21. Separation of spouses while maintaining the
marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases.
A spouse who finds themselves the victim of a civil
divorce against their will is not guilty of a moral
offense, but they are still to remember that a civil
divorce does not and cannot dissolve the marriage
bond and that they are not, therefore, free to remarry.
Other offenses are polygamy, incest, so-called free
union (whereby a man and a woman live together in
sexual intimacy but refuse to give juridical and
public form to the liaison), and the so-called right to a
trial marriage.
Offenses Against the Dignity of
Marriage
22. The ninth commandment completes and
parallels the sixth. Jesus said that
adultery consisted not only in the act but
also in the intent or the desire:
Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully
has already committed adultery with her
in his heart. -Matt. 5:28
The Ninth Commandment
23. The heart is the seat of the moral
personality, and the struggle against sin
is nothing less than the struggle to purify
the heart.
All evil deeds begin as evil desires that
flow from a heart not sufficiently
detached from the things of this world.
Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication…”
(Matt. 15:19)
Purification of the Heart
24. Purification is a continuous struggle fought by prayer,
chastity, purity of intention and purity of vision.
There are several aspects of purity of heart, all of them
graces and virtues:
Chastity lets us love with upright hearts.
Purity of intention consists in seeking to fulfill God’s will
in everything (versus doing good for selfish reasons).
Purity of vision disciplines the feelings and imagination
and refuses to partake in impure thoughts.
Modesty protects the inner core of a person and refuses to
unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to
chastity and guides how we look at others. Modesty is
decency.
Purification
25. Lesson content courtesy of
www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com
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