Where is the Line Between Preaching that Homosexuality is a Sin and Preaching Hate?

God is love and all we believe and do must be congruent with that primordial and primary truth. So preaching “hate” is always contradictory and unacceptable. What the Church teaches and preaches is chastity, i.e., “the successful integration of sexuality within the person.” (Catechism #2237). We should know homosexuality is not a sin. There are many people who experience homosexual orientation. The reality of finding one a homosexual is not a sin. Homosexual sexual acts take place outside of sacramental marriage and cannot fulfill an openness to procreation within that act, which is a requirement for marital sexual relations.

Heterosexual sexual acts also are considered sinful by the Church when they occur outside the covenant relationship of a sacramental marriage.

Church teaching states:

“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. … They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. … Homosexual persons are called to chastity.” (Catechism #2358-2359).

So, we reach out in love to those who are homosexual while calling them and others to chastity. We do so in love and peacefully, giving people the freedom to make their own choices and the prayerfulness to continue to hold them in prayer for the long term.