And the bottom line is this: Those who suffer with this disorder have testified by the hundreds, and more, that the level of SSA they experience in their lives varies.
I still don’t understand how you arrive at your view I don’t believe the secular world views
“homosexuality” as a “disorder” but rather a “normal” and healthy variation of the species.
Even the Church doesn’t view people with SSA attraction as having a “disorder” the CCC
2358 says: “This inclination, which is objectively disordered”. It is the inclination that is
disordered, I agree with this. I believe the inclination is a temptation and all temptation is
disordered. I do not agree that anyone has the capacity to “experience an exclusive … sexual
attraction toward persons of the same sex”. I believe that this statement is an error by the Church
I personally have a male friend that I helped to come to the Catholic Church who would tell you that sexual relations with a woman is repugnant to him. His sexual attraction is purely toward men. Now, this fellow has all sorts of problems and abuse in his background that most likely contributes to his disordered state, but it is difficult not to acknowledge that this disordered state is a real possibility. I have another dear friend who has attempted to be “cured” of his SSA, even visiting our friend Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, but to no avail. As you know, John, curing this disorder is a real possibility, and there are many such documented cases, but that is not always the case. In the case of this second friend of mine, he was sexually abused by two of his older brothers, neither of whom knew the other was also abusing their little brother. It was a horrible situation that my friend knows has left what seem to be indelible scars in his psyche. My wife and I have tried to set him up with women, and he has even dated a few of them. But each time, he tells me, “there is just no attraction to women there.” His attraction as well is toward men alone. He now lives a consecrated single life and is at peace with his calling to be celibate.
I do not know your two friends and do not wish to disparage them or judge them. Since you
brought their stories up I will use them to show how I think they highlight the Church’s error.
For the first case you say: “I personally have a male friend that I helped to come to the Catholic
Church who would tell you that sexual relations with a woman is repugnant to him. His sexual
attraction is purely toward men.”. This person has clearly had a difficult life but from what you
share seems resigned to believing himself a “homosexual person” which is his privilege with
freewill the Lord gives all. I believe it wrong for the Church to encourage such a belief.
The other case you say: “It was a horrible situation that my friend knows has left what seem to
be indelible scars in his psyche. My wife and I have tried to set him up with women, and he has
even dated a few of them. But each time, he tells me, “there is just no attraction to women there”.
For this person you and he had some hope that it might be possible for him to have attraction to
persons of the opposite sex. I am sorry that you lost hope. I can understand the secular world
person giving up, I cannot understand a person of Faith giving up. Are not all things possible
with the Lord? Is not the Lord capable of supplying sufficient Grace?
Is SSA a special type of temptation?
One can accept the existence of the “homosexual person” based on emotion, or false compassion
as Bishop Fulton Sheen referred, but the Church must not.
The fact remains that the Church claims a group of people “experience an exclusive … sexual
attraction toward persons of the same sex”. I believe that this statement is an error by the Church.
I have not seen a truly right and just reason given for this claim. Do you have one?
God bless
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