The Catechism is an excellent resource for looking up official Catholic teachings to use in lessons to support any topics being studied. It is written by the Magisterium (the official teaching authority of the Church) and is, therefore, an important source of authority, trusted by Catholics to inform their conscience on belief, practice and morality. Throughout Article 7, which focuses on the Sacrament of Matrimony, the criteria for marriage is explained, for example (paragraph 1625). I ask students to create a ‘Valid Catholic Marriage checklist’, and then we consider whether same-sex marriage meets the success criteria. The reason it does not is related to one of the criteria for marriage, which is that it must be between one man and one woman. So rather than coming from the angle of ‘same-sex marriage is sinful’, students can see that it simply is not possible to meet the criteria using the Catechism’s definition of marriage. 

This version of the Catechism was inspired by Pope Benedict XVI, who wanted young people to have access to the Magisterium teachings of the church. This is a valid source of authority for students to study and refer to at GCSE, and I find it is often an easier resource to use for more complex teachings than the Catechism itself. In Part Three, ‘How are we to have a life in Christ’, in an accessible question/answer style, this text sensitively explains the Catholic beliefs on the purpose of sexual love and why it must be marital. This helps students to understand that homosexual sexual relations cannot be possible if following Catholic teaching because, for the reasons above, any sex outside of marriage is not permissible. 

It is important to consider the compassion of the church towards all people. In this article, Pope Francis calls for an end to unjust laws on homosexuality because ‘we are all children of God, and God loves us as we are’ and reiterates the teachings of the Catechism, which state that every person has dignity people and should not be discriminated against because of their sexuality (YOUCAT 415). 

In many ways, this book by the Jesuit priest James Martin, SJ, is a response to people in the Catholic community who perpetuate the ‘homosexuality is a sin’ belief, which causes a division between them and Catholics who identify as LGBTQ. While the Catechism does state any sex outside of marriage is a sin, homosexual sex shouldn’t be regarded as more sinful than heterosexual sex before marriage. This book is faithful to Catholic teaching, and the author has met with Pope Francis, who has been supportive of the book. The views presented in the book also reflect the beliefs about homosexuality according to the Pew Research Center findings, which shows that many Catholics today believe homosexuality should be accepted.