Should I leave the Church because of my homosexuality?
The short answer
No. "Homosexual" is not your identity: you are a Catholic with same-sex attractions, and the Church is not against you. Everything, starting with existence itself, is God's gift — including the crosses that let us grow in love for him. You have a special place in the Church.
Who you are
Your identity is not "homosexual." You are a Catholic who has same-sex attractions, and your Church is not against you.
Everything is gift
Like everyone, you exist not because you deserve it but because God gives existence generously and keeps giving it. We could never repay him; from the start, we owe. Besides life itself we each have other gifts, and none of us has all of them.
The gift of the cross
Some of God's greatest gifts are the crosses he places in our lives, which let us grow in love for him. You have a special place in the Church. The world speaks as though Good Friday never happened, but by faith you know God has chosen to favor you with the gift of himself in a unique way. Selfless love is not easy, but he is worth it.
Support
Consider Courage (couragerc.net), an apostolate for Catholics with same-sex attraction.
Continue exploring
- How can I defend the Church's teaching on homosexuality?Q&A
- How can I live as an intersex person when so many people label me?Q&A
- How can the Church call homosexuality unnatural when animals show homosexual behavior?Q&A
- Is marital intercourse sinful if the spouses do it with lust for each other?Q&A
- Why is pornography a sin?Q&A
- Are marital relations not supposed to be pleasurable, since they are for reproduction?Q&A