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- Author, Edison Veiga
- Role, From Bled (Slovenia) to BBC News Brasil
A document released by the Church at the end of November recognizes that there is a “unitive purpose of sexuality“, emphasizing that sexual acts “are not limited to ensuring procreation, but contribute to enriching and strengthening the unique and exclusive union and the feeling of mutual belonging”.
Signed by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith — current name of the former Court of the Holy Office —, the doctrinal note released with the approval of Pope Leo 14 is a Catholic defense of the monogamous union between man and woman. But it presents between the lines this understanding that the sexual act has a function beyond the generation of descendants.
Published only in Italian, the text states that “in recent decades” due to the “context of post-modern consumerist individualism”, several problems have originated from the “excessive and uncontrolled search for sex or the simple denial of the procreative purpose of sexuality”.
At the same time, the note recalls that there was also an “explicit denial of the unitive purpose of sexuality and marriage itself” and encourages “the desire for emotional exchange, through sexual relations themselves, but also through dialogue and cooperation.”
The document says that an “integral vision of conjugal charity” is one that “does not deny its fecundity.” But “sexual union, as a form of expression of conjugal charity”, even though it “must naturally remain open to the communication of life”, does not need to have the “explicit objective of each sexual act” for this purpose.
In this sense, the text presents three possibilities. The first is the sex lives of couples who cannot have children. The second is “that a couple does not consciously seek a particular sexual act as a means of procreation.” Finally, the third item talks about respecting “natural periods of infertility” — “this can serve not only to regulate birth rates, but also to choose the most appropriate moments to welcome a new life”, notes the document.
The note emphasizes that “the couple can take advantage of these periods as a manifestation of affection and to safeguard mutual fidelity.” “By doing this, they demonstrate a truly and completely honest love,” he says.
From abstention to pleasure
Table of Contents
Such a stance is not completely unprecedented in Catholic documents. But it was presented prominently in this text, full of quotes that transcend the circles at the top of Catholicism as they include, among others, love verses by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), excerpts from writings by the Italian poet Eugenio Montale (1896-1981) and thoughts on the ethics of marriage left by the Danish existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) — who was also a Christian theologian, by the way.
“Although this is not something new, there is in fact an evolution in the Church’s thinking as an institution in relation to sex, beyond this dimension of reproduction”, theologian Raylson Araujo, researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), tells BBC News Brasil.
He recalls that in old manuals, such as those that guided priest confessors in the 16th and 17th centuries, there were many recommendations to abstain from sexual practices, even within marriage.
Araujo recalls that a prevailing view of sex was “something sinful, dirty.” The theologian recalls that approaches that instructed couples not to have sex during periods such as Lent or even on Sundays were common.
“From the 20th century until now, especially after the Second Vatican Council [que ocorreu entre os anos de 1962 e 1965]this idea began to be revisited.
The current text of the Catechism of the Catholic Churchfor example, published in 1992, also addresses the so-called “unitive character” of sexual relations within marriage.
“The unitive function of sex, in addition to the procreative one, is traditional in the Church’s teaching”, highlights sociologist of religion Francisco Borba Ribeiro Neto, former coordinator of the Faith and Culture Center at PUC-SP, to BBC News Brasil.
He recalls that in the magisterium of Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) this stance was recurrent. “[Ele] insisted on the need for Christian couples to recognize this aspect of sexuality”, he points out.
“What happened was a moralizing reduction of the Christian message, which even goes against an integral conception of Christian morality”, he observes. “The current document merely recalls something that should be known and recognized by everyone who is interested in Catholic doctrine.”
The Catechism addresses the issue in paragraphs 2360, 2361 and 2362. “In marriage, the bodily intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion”, says one of them.
“The acts by which spouses unite intimately and chastely are honest and dignified; carried out in an authentically human way, they express and nourish the mutual dedication through which they enrich each other with joy and gratitude”, points out the set of rules. “Sexuality is a source of joy and pleasure.”
The book, however, highlights that such relationships must always be driven by love.
Ribeiro Neto recalls that, according to the Church’s doctrine, “pleasure without love is like an orgasm”, it can “be wonderful, but it ends in the bitterness of loneliness”.
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“In sexual relations, the Church is not against pleasure, but rather against pleasure without love. Because sex, in its fullness, is a celebration of love”, contextualizes the sociologist.
“So, there is nothing against Catholics having sex for pleasure. The problem is having sex without love”, he explains. “Perhaps the biggest cultural problem with sexual practice is sex without responsible love. When I give or receive pleasure from another person, I become responsible for them, because sexual pleasure is the donation of the intimacy of the being. When we want to have pleasure and love without responsibility, then we fail, because there is no true love without responsibility for the other.”
For historian and theologian Gerson Leite de Moraes, professor at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, the most important thing to emphasize about the note is that the Church “does not shy away from the discussion”, approaching sexuality from a contemporary perspective.
In conversation with BBC News Brasil, he recalls that in the past there was an emphasis on the so-called “marital continence”, but that the exercise of sexuality within marriage was never denied.
“What it seems to me is that there is a consolidation of the Church’s view on the importance of marriage”, he assesses.
Eroticism in the Bible
Author of the book Love Is Not For Salein which she analyzes the mentions of sexual interactions in the Bible, linguist Ana Bezerra Felicio points out that in almost all cases in which this occurs, it either has to do with children and family or is in a negative context.
“There are abuses, rapes, reprehensible practices, showing the cruelest reality of human life”, she says, to BBC News Brasil. Felicio is a member of the Brazilian Association of Christians in Science.
For the specialist, the exception is in the book Song of Songswhich is part of the Old Testament.
It is an erotic poem that celebrates sexual encounter. There is no consensus on the authorship of the text, but most experts believe that the verses were created between 450 BC and 330 BC
“Without it, there would be no positive connotation of sex in the Bible”, highlights Felicio. “In it there is an exaltation of the beauty of bodies, bodies that greatly desire each other.”
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In a book, sensual kisses
Behind the scenes at the Holy See, an additional nuance deserves to be highlighted. The text was produced by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, former archbishop of La Plata, who took charge of the dicastery two years ago.
In addition to being a fellow countryman, Fernández was a close friend of Pope Francis (1936-2025) and was ghost writer of several documents signed by him. Throughout his career in Argentina, however, the religious man experienced controversial episodes precisely linked to sexual morality.
He is the author of the book Heal me with Your Mouth – The Art of Kissingin which he encourages couples to take great care when practicing erotic kisses.
When he was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the oldest of the 16 bodies that operate within the Vatican’s spheres of power, more conservative sectors of the Church criticized Francis’ decision. In the Catholic daily La Croix International, Vaticanist Robert Mickens called the appointment “a bombshell” for traditionalists.
Interestingly, between 2009 and 2011, under the pontificate of Benedict XVI (1927-2022), Fernández was questioned by the same body that he heads today. They saw him as the author of too “modern” speeches and asked for explanations.
In his career, the now cardinal has always shown greater openness to welcoming LBTQIA+ populations and so-called second couples — topics that tend to spark controversy due to the lack of consensus between different sectors of Catholicism.
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Pill, condom and other methods?
Whenever there is a signal from the Church to recognize the value of sex as a pleasure for couples, expectations arise in the most progressive sectors of Catholicism of a historic change in the institution regarding contraceptive methods.
For experts, it is still too early to envisage a change on this point. The Catholic Church does not accept the use of contraceptives seen as artificial. The recommendation is that couples who do not want children rely on strategies such as the Billings ovulation method.
“There are parishes that offer courses for those who want to learn more about this”, recalls theologian Araujo.
Historian and theologian Moraes, however, recognizes that traditionally “the Church is slowly changing” in some positions. And any update usually takes a long time. “The important thing is that the topics are up for debate”, he argues. “That the Church continues to evaluate issues according to its values.”
