History of the Catholic Church and homosexuality

The Christian tradition has generally proscribed any and all noncoital genital activities, whether engaged in by couples or individuals, regardless of whether they were of the same or different sex.^[1]^{[page needed]} The position of the Roman Catholic Church with regards to homosexuality developed from the writings of Paul the Apostle and the teachings of the Church Fathers. These were in stark contrast to contemporary Greek and Roman attitudes towards same-sex relations which were more relaxed.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Canon law regulating homosexual activity has mainly been shaped through the decrees issued by a number of synods, starting from the 4th century Council of Elvira.^[5] Initially, proscriptions against "sodomy" were aimed simply at ensuring clerical or monastic discipline; and were only later widened in the Middle Ages to include laymen.^[6] By the Middle Ages, the Catholic clergy increasingly encouraged the pious to hunt out those committing homosexual acts, and to hand them over to secular authorities for punishment. The Spanish Inquisition tried nearly a thousand individuals for sodomy,^[7] where near 500 cases were of sodomy between persons, with only a few cases where the couple were consenting homosexual adults.^[8] The relationship between the Catholic church and the modern day LGBT community has been difficult, especially during the height of the AIDS crisis.

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