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 TOPIC 9
HUMAN BEINGS, CREATED MALE AND FEMALE BY GOD

References: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 356-373; 1930; 2113; 2357-2359

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-9-human-beings-created-male-and-female-by-god/

 HUMAN BEINGS,
CREATED MALE AND FEMALE BY GOD

God created man in his image One’s sexuality affects

and likeness, male and female all the dimensions of the human person as a
he created them.” body person

One’s sexual identity is a gift Special importance of upholding Charity, understanding,

and a responsibility the fundamental differentiation and accompaniment
and complementation of the sexes
 Fundamental Truth
◦ “God created man in his image and likeness,
male and female he created them.”
Gen 1:26-27

◦ “in his image and likeness”  God is self-giving love

1 Jn 4:8. 16
◦ ”male and female”  two different, complementary ways of participating
in the divine image

◦ the objective differentiation, complementation and attraction of the sexes has God for
its author
◦ being male and being female are two different ways for the human person
to participate in God’s image
◦ indispensable foundation for the natural institution of marriage
and the family built on marriage
◦ a man is called by God to bring to fulfillment the image of God as a man
(e.g., the Blessed Virgin Mary)
◦ a woman, as a woman (e.g., St. Joseph)
 One’s sexuality affects
all the dimensions
of the human person
as a body person
◦ being male or female
is an integral part of one’s identity
◦ the human body is either male or female
(never “neuter”)
◦ man is not a spirit “dressed up” in a body,
but a unitotality of body and spiritual soul

◦ sexuality affects the human person

in all his/her dimensions:
biological, emotional, intellectual, spiritual

◦ the body (as male/female)

represents the person
◦ man is called to participate and reflect God’s image
in a bodily way
 One’s sexual identity
is a gift and a responsibility

A Gift A Responsibility
• an integral part of our being created in God’s image and likeness • Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

• one’s masculinity/femininity permeates all the other dimensions “Everyone should accept his or her identity as male or female, recognizing its
of the human being as a bodily image of God importance for the whole of the person,
its specificity and complementarity.”
• a specific calling to serve and “glorify God and bear him
in our bodies” (1 Cor 6:20)

• and to love and serve our neighbor

(as husband/wife, father/mother, brother/sister, grandfather/grandmother,
uncle/aunt, priest, religious nun, etc.)
 Special importance
of upholding
the fundamental differentiation
& complementation of the sexes
◦ To say that ”gender is fluid and a matter of personal choice” is
simply not true
◦ contrary to the natural moral law
and to divinely revealed law
◦ the human person constitutes a unified whole in his physical,
emotional, intellectual,
and spiritual dimensions
◦ denying one’s moral obligation
to accept one’s biological identity gives rise
to serious psychological, moral,
and spiritual harm

◦ the human person is radically sexualized

 the satisfaction of the sexual appetite predominates in one’s
appreciation of sexuality
◦ widespread presence today of aggressively militant ideologies
that spread gender ideology
◦ in art, theater, music, mass media, sex education of children,
business institutions
 Charity, understanding,
and accompaniment
cf CCC 2357-2359
◦ the psychological genesis of same sex attraction remains largely
unexplained

◦ the number of people who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is

not negligible

◦ same sex attraction is objectively disordered

and constitutes a trial for most people affected by it

◦ every sign of unjust discrimination or lack of charity should be avoided

◦ they must be accepted with respect, compassion,

and sensitivity

◦ by the virtues of self-mastery and, at times,

by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer
and the sacraments, they strive for holiness
 TOPIC 9
HUMAN BEINGS, CREATED MALE AND FEMALE BY GOD

References: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 356-373; 1930; 2113; 2357-2359

Supplementary reading: https://opusdei.org/en/article/topic-9-human-beings-created-male-and-female-by-god/