Editing Religion and sexuality (section)

====Catholicism====
{{Main|Catholic theology of sexuality}}
{{See also|Theology of the Body|Christian views on masturbation}}
From the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Catholic Church formally recognized [[Fruit of the Holy Spirit|marriage between a freely consenting, baptized man and woman]] as a [[sacrament]] – an outward sign communicating a special gift of God's love. The [[Council of Florence]] in 1438 gave this definition, following earlier church statements in 1208, and declared that sexual union was a special participation in the union of Christ in the church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09707a.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sacrament of Marriage |website=Newadvent.org |date=1910-10-01 |access-date=2017-06-30}}</ref> However the [[Puritans]], while highly valuing the institution, viewed marriage as a "civil", rather than a "religious" matter, being "under the jurisdiction of the civil courts".<ref name="Feige, Diana 1995 P109">{{cite journal |last1=Feige |first1=Diana |first2=Franz G M. |last2=Feige |title=Love, Marriage, and Family in Puritan Society |journal=Dialogue & Alliance |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=1 March 1995 |pages=96–114 }}</ref> This is because they found no biblical precedent for clergy performing marriage ceremonies. Further, marriage was said to be for the "relief of [[concupiscence]]"<ref name="Feige, Diana 1995 P109"/> as well as any spiritual purpose.

The Catholic moral theologian [[Charles Curran (theologian)|Charles E. Curran]] stated "the fathers of the Church are practically silent on the simple question of masturbation".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T08zZBoY7uYC&q=the+fathers+of+the+Church+are+pratically+silent+on+the+simple+question+of+masturbation&pg=PA59 |title=Christians, Feminists, and the Culture of Pornography |author=Arthur J. Mielke |page=59 |access-date=2017-06-30|isbn=9780819197658 |year=1995 |publisher=University Press of America }}</ref>

The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' teaches that "the flesh is the hinge of salvation".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art11.htm#1015 |title=Catechism |website=Usccb.org |date=2015-08-14 |access-date=2017-06-30 |archive-date=2008-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821172548/http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art11.htm#1015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ''Catechism'' indicates that sexual relationships in marriage is "a way of imitating in the flesh the Creator's generosity and fecundity"<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|2335}}</ref> and lists fornication as one of the "offenses against chastity",<ref name=":0">{{Cite CCC|2.1|2352}}</ref> calling it "an intrinsically and gravely disordered action" because "use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose".<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web
 | title = Persona Humana:Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, Section IX
 | work = Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
 |date=December 29, 1975
 | url = http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_df75se.htm
 | access-date = 2006-08-29 }}</ref> The "conjugal act" aims "at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul"<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1643}}</ref> since the marriage bond is to be a sign of the love between God and humanity.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1617}}</ref>

[[Pope John Paul II]]'s first major teaching was on the [[Catholic theology of the body|theology of the body]], presented in a series of [[Theology of the Body|lectures by the same name]]. Over the course of five years he elucidated a vision of sex that was not only positive and affirming but was about redemption, not condemnation. He taught that by understanding God's plan for physical love we could understand "the meaning of the whole of existence, the meaning of life."<ref>{{cite web |title=General Audience, 6 |url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/jp2tb45.htm |author=Pope John Paul II |date=29 October 1980 |publisher=L'Osservatore Romano |access-date=2006-09-15}}</ref> He taught that human beings were created by a loving God for a purpose: to be loving persons who freely choose to love, to give themselves as persons who express their self-giving through their bodies. Thus, sexual intercourse between husband and wife is a [[symbol]] of their total mutual self-donation.{{Original research inline|date=June 2016}}

For John Paul II, "The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine." He says there is no other more perfect [[image]] of the unity and communion of God in mutual love than the sexual act of a married couple, whereby they give themselves in a total way – exclusively to one another, and up to the end of their lives, and in a fruitfully generous way by participating in the [[Insemination|creation]] of new human beings. Through this perspective, he understands the immorality of extra-marital sex. It falsifies the language of the human body, a language of total love worthy of persons by using the body for selfish ends, thus treating persons as things and objects, rather than dealing with embodied persons with the reverence and love that incarnate spirits deserve. John Paul II stresses that there is great [[beauty]] in sexual love when done in [[harmony]] with the human values of freely chosen total commitment and self-giving. For him, this sexual love is a form of [[worship]], an experience of the [[sacred]].<ref>Theology of Marriage and Celibacy, Boston, St. Paul Books and Media 1986</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/marriage-and-family/sexuality/the-pope-s-theology-of-the-body.html | author=Christopher West | work=Catholic Education Resource Center | title=John Paul II's Theology of the Body | access-date=2009-09-29 }}</ref>

Roman Catholics believe that masturbation is a sin.<ref name="Cardinal2005">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19751229_persona-humana_en.html|title=Persona Humana: Declaration on certain questions concerning sexual ethics|last=Cardinal Seper|first=Franjo|date=2005-12-29|publisher=The Roman Curia|work=§ IX|access-date=2008-07-23}}</ref>

In September 2015, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, responsible for enforcing Catholic doctrine, did not permit a transgender man in Spain to serve as a godfather effectively barring transgender Catholics from serving as a baptismal sponsors. The statement concluded: "[...] the result is evident that this person does not possess the requisite of leading a life conformed to the faith and to the position of godfather (CIC, can 874 §1,3), therefore is not able to be admitted to the position of godmother nor godfather. One should not see this as discrimination, but only the recognition of an objective absence of the requisites that by their nature are necessary to assume the ecclesial responsibility of being a godparent."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Roman Catholic Church |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-roman-catholic-church |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=Human Rights Campaign |language=en-US}}</ref>