Sexuality – Sexuality is more than just a biological reality. It is a person’s capacity to give and receive love as either a man or a woman. Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person (physical, psychological and spiritual) in the unity of his body and soul. Each person is more than a body that contains a soul or a soul with a body attached. Rather, we are integrated persons. This means that a man’s body and soul are inherently male and that a woman’s body and soul are inherently female. (CCC 2332, 369, 372, 1704-5)

Human sexuality is a powerful tendency that draws us towards love and affection with other persons – especially those of the opposite gender. Sexual tendencies are themselves good for they are part of our God-given human nature. Sexual desires and the emotional feelings they evoke are the raw materials of authentic human love. They help us realize our own personal significance as well as the dignity of others. These desires are to be properly expressed within our personal vocation. When shaped intelligently and rightly connected with our will, these natural tendencies play a vital role in our call to holiness. (Truth & Meaning of Human Sexuality, #11)

Sex / Gender

The most authentic understanding of the term “sex” is the understanding that our “sex” is either male or female. The contemporary term for this understanding of “sex” is “gender.” “It is, in fact, from sex that the human person receives the characteristics which, on the biological, psychological and spiritual levels, make that person a man or a woman, and thereby largely condition his or her progress towards maturity and insertion into society.” (Educational Guidance in Human Love #3)

It is not an accident that God created human persons in two genders: male and female. God intentionally created human persons to be sexual so that they would have the potential to form bonds of communion with each other. Sexuality, which has love as its intrinsic end, permeates the entire being of each person: physical, moral and spiritual. The sexual differences designed by God also permeate the entire person and make it possible for a man and a woman to develop a unique friendship and to become “one flesh” within the Sacrament of Marriage whereby children are procreated and nurtured. The complementarity that exists between male and female persons also assists them in knowing, loving and serving God and thereby meriting Heaven.