Catholic theology of sexuality , like Catholic theology in general, is drawn from " natural law ", [ 1 ] canonical scripture , divine revelation , and sacred tradition , as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic Church. Sexual morality evaluates sexual behavior according to standards laid out by Catholic moral theology , and often provides general principles by which Catholics can evaluate whether specific actions meet these standards.
The Catholic Church teaches that sexual intercourse has a two-fold unitive and procreative purpose ; [ 2 ] According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church , "conjugal love Because Catholics believe God found everything he created to be "very good", [ 5 ] the Catholic Church teaches that the human body and sex must likewise be good.
Every person is created in the image of God and therefore has great dignity including their sexuality. In cases in which sexual expression is sought outside marriage , or in which the procreative function of sexual expression within marriage is "deliberately frustrated" e. In the history of Catholic Church, there have been significant differing opinions on the nature of the severity of various sexual sins.
In the present, there exists still wide opinions by theologians and much of the laity on official teaching on sexuality. Natural law Latin : lex naturalis refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature to deduce binding rules of moral behavior from God's creation of reality and mankind.
Its main precepts are found in the Ten Commandments. In the Summa Theologica , St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: " Wherefore it has a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end: and this participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law.
