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Chapter 30. Sixth Commandment: Marital Fidelity • 407
•
Incest
(sexual relationships between close relatives) is always wrong,
harming both the individuals involved as well as the family itself.
•
Sexual abuse
of any kind harms the victim on many more levels than
only the physical. Forcing sexual intimacy of any type on a child or
minor is an even graver evil (cf. CCC, no. 2356), which often scars
the victim for life (cf. CCC, no. 2389).
•
Pornography
(sexually explicit material) has become even more
available through the Internet. This presents real difficulties for both
individuals and society, as viewing pornography is not only sinful
in itself but can also become an addiction and lead to dangerous
sexual behaviors. It has also led to a greater exploitation of children
as sexual objects.
•
Prostitution
reduces the person “to an instrument of sexual plea-
sure,” an object to be used. It increases the spread of sexually trans-
mitted diseases. To protect innocent members of society, prostitution
can legitimately be forbidden by civil authority. It is more preva-
lent where a culture exploits the physical and social vulnerability of
women (CCC, no. 2355).
•
Rape
is an act of violence in which a person forces a sexual act on an
unwilling partner. “Rape deeply wounds the respect, freedom, and
physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right. . . . It
is always an intrinsically evil act” (CCC, no. 2356).
• “
Homosexual acts
are intrinsically disordered” and immoral. “They
are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift
of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual
complementarity” (CCC, no. 2357). Having homosexual inclina-
tions is not immoral. It is homosexual acts that are immoral.
“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homo-
sexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objec-
tively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must
be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign
of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These
persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are
Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties
they may encounter from their condition” (CCC, no. 2358).