05 May 2026
Source: synod.va
Referencing itself as a "defining dimension of the Church’s mission", Synodal Study Group 9 Final Report states: "Within this struggle, yet simultaneously as a path toward its resolution, the account bears witness
to the discovery that sin, at its root, does not consist in the (same-sex) couple relationship, but in a
lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfilment."
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Complete Final Report from Synodal Study Group 9: Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discrenment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues.
INTRODUCTORY NOTES:
THE JOURNEY UNDERTAKEN AND THE
METHODOLOGICAL CHOICES MADE
(Section related to same-sex relationships)
2. Experiences of people of faith with same-sex attractions
In order to offer useful insights for synodal discernment regarding the lived experience of
believers with same-sex attractions within the Christian community, it is essential first to clarify what
is at stake. With this in mind – and aware of the established paradigm for addressing this issue, which
is undoubtedly of fundamental importance in the life and ministry of the Church – we have placed
ourselves in a position of listening to two testimonies (cf. Annexes A, 1 and 2). These are two deeply
personal stories, selected from the numerous contributions that we received regarding this emerging
issue.
2.1 Listening to two testimonies
The two testimonies, while very different from one another and reflecting the cultural context of
Western societies, present several common features. In these, one can detect the emergence of
“experiences of goodness” in the form of successive stages of development in the individuals
involved, alongside the establishment of good practices within Christian communities
The first testimony, from Portugal, begins with a personal drama: the “secret” discovery of one’s
own difference during adolescence, resulting in a profound sense of solitude and isolation within both
society and the Church. Against this backdrop, the personal relationship with Christ, who loves us all
in our totality and integrity, proves decisive.
This testimony, after highlighting the initial difficulty of finding groups – even at a social and
civil level – that did not cause further isolation, describes the joyful discovery of a Christian
community centred on Ignatian spirituality (Christian Life Community, or CLC). Yet, the positivity
of this journey coexists with significant difficulties, as seen in the devastating effects of reparative
therapies aimed at recovering heterosexuality, and in the contradictory advice received: from those
who suggest marriage to a woman in order to “find peace” to those who instead invite the person not
to leave “dark or hidden areas” in their relationship with Christ.
Within this struggle, yet simultaneously as a path toward its resolution, the account bears witness
to the discovery that sin, at its root, does not consist in the (same-sex) couple relationship, but in a
lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfilment. This new awareness becomes the starting point for
moving beyond a conception of the Christian community merely as a place of welcome and
compassion, to arriving at the experience of the Christian community as a place where we are all
loved.
The second testimony, from the United States, highlights how the protagonist’s current “arrival
point” is the fruit of a long journey of faith that has articulated “prayer, therapy, and a community
capable of providing support.” The presence of the Christian community, in this case, is marked by
both light and shadow, yet it has proven decisive.
The testimony first describes the problematic membership in a Catholic group (Courage) which,
by pushing for “reparative therapy,” had the effect of separating faith and sexuality. On the other
hand, it recounts how the study of theology allowed for the opening of new horizons for a contextual
interpretation of the Bible, moving beyond traditionalist or even fundamentalist readings. It then bears
witness to the decisive nature of the encounter with Christian communities and hospitable priests,
who contributed to the promotion of practices that took shape in a commitment to pastoral service –
caring for the sick, the elderly, the lonely and depressed, as well as those rejected for belonging to
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the LGBTQ community. However, it also brings to light the many misunderstandings within the
Christian community, rooted in attitudes of homophobia and transphobia.
Ultimately, this testimony emphasizes how the Christian community, at all levels – local and
universal – can represent a decisive place of “healing and inclusion” through practices of welcome
and hospitality.
2.2 The challenge: Experiences, practices, and expertise
The personal testimonies we have gathered reveal both lacerations and longings, hope and pain.
In the brief re-reading we offer here, it appears to us that, alongside resistances and difficulties linked
to the perpetuation of pre-established and reductive frameworks, there are also signs of subtle yet
significant initial stages of development and changes. These, linked to new practices, are capable of
“instituting” entirely new perspectives. All of this allows for a deeper discernment of the faith
experience of persons with same-sex attractions.
Regarding the resistances – limiting ourselves to those emerging from the lived experiences
shared with us – we wish to highlight the following: the solitude, anguish, and stigma that accompany
persons with same-sex attractions and their families, not only in society but also within the Church;
this is often linked to the temptation to hide in a “double life.” Within this problematic outlook lie the
positions expressed in the pressure to undergo reparative therapies or, even more gravely, in the
simplistic advice to enter the sacrament of marriage.
From all this emerges the question of the roots of such attitudes, which resist acknowledging the
actual condition of individuals (solitude, lack of hope, or even depression). Another element of
difficulty found in the experiences we heard is the disintegrating separation between faith and
sexuality.
Turning to some of the positive points that foreshadow a shift in perspective and establish
themselves as initial stages, capable of fostering further developments in both practices and expertise.
Here, we would like to emphasise the following key aspects: the stability of a healthy affective
relationship, which allows for the sharing of life perspectives, ethical convictions, and faith; the
recognition of the importance of sexuality, which nevertheless does not justify considering it the sole
aspect of life; the liberating power of a personal encounter with Christ, who loves us just as we are;
self-acceptance linked to the deepening of faith and to active participation and service within the life
of the Christian community; and the specific contribution of a theology capable of opening up a
contextual and hermeneutic reading of the Bible.
2.3 The tension between pastoral practices and doctrine: How to move beyond an impasse?
At the root of both the emerging openings and the persisting resistances, it seems possible to
identify a difficulty in coordinating pastoral practice and the doctrinal approach. Other testimonies
received by our Study Group from believers with same-sex attractions further confirm how arduous
it is for individuals and Christian communities to reconcile “doctrinal firmness” with “pastoral
welcome.”
These polarised positions, often deemed irreconcilable, result on one hand in profound suffering,
personal lacerations, and experiences of marginalisation or “double lives” for believers with samesex attractions; on the other hand, within the life of the Church, they trigger conflicts, oppositions,
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and seemingly incurable controversies between those who reaffirm non-negotiable principles in the
name of truth and those who, albeit in different ways, emphasise the demands of understanding and
merciful love. These conflicts, though often hushed up, do not cease to be actively at work. How can
we get beyond this impasse?
It is not a matter of devising a strategy to hide real difficulties or of forcing the issue to assert a
new doctrine: it is a matter of starting from the listening to experiences and fostering pastoral and
ecclesial practices of mutual knowledge, collaboration, inclusion, and dialogue among believers. For
it is only in this way – in the light of the lived and shared experience of the Gospel within the Christian
community – that one can come to discern and promote the “good” inscribed in experiences and
practices. What is at stake, as is clearly understood, is the overcoming of the theoretical model that
derives praxis from a “pre-packaged” doctrine, “applying” general and abstract principles to the
concrete and personal situations of life. The task, therefore, is to rediscover a fruitful circularity
between theory and praxis, between thought and experience, recognising that theological reflection
itself proceeds from the experiences of “good” inscribed in the sensus fidei fidelium.
The questions that follow are intended to foster the practices of synodal discernment that need to
be enacted within Christian communities – the outcomes of which cannot be anticipated with preestablished formulas.
2.4 Possible pathways and questions for synodal discernment
• Recognizing the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the Church, it is important first
of all to dedicate time to deepening our understanding of the biblical passages that – directly
or indirectly – are proposed in interpreting the meaning of homosexuality from the
perspective of biblical anthropology. It is necessary to go beyond a mere repetition of their
current presentation and take into account the insights gained from diverse exegetical
readings. To accompany this reflection, we suggest the authoritative pages of the Pontifical
Biblical Commission’s 2019 document entitled, What is Man? (Ps 8:5): An Itinerary of
Biblical Anthropology (in particular, pages 160-170).
• Regarding the recent Magisterium of the Church, it is worth noting that the two documents
from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the homosexual condition –
Persona Humana (1975; PH) and Homosexualitatis Problema (1986; HP) – despite
differences in nuance, both firmly deplored “that homosexual persons have been and are the
object of violent malice in speech or in action” (HP 10). For this reason, Homosexualitatis
Problema, which is specifically dedicated – as its subtitle indicates – to the pastoral care of
homosexual persons, called upon bishops “to provide pastoral care in full accord with the
teaching of the Church for homosexual persons of their dioceses” (HP 15), grounded in
Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church.
• Furthermore, it should be duly noted that Persona Humana formulates, for the first time, the
distinction between homosexual acts and the homosexual condition or tendency (PH 8),
incorporating an insight from the psychological sciences. In this light, the Christian
community is invited to ask: how can we more deeply understand the human and moral
experience of believers with same-sex attractions, drawing not only on the light of the Word
of God but also on a transdisciplinary approach?
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• And further: how are our communities called to address, in concrete terms, situations of
polarization and division regarding believers with same-sex attractions, as well as attitudes
of rejection or fear? If we agree that pretending the question does not exist is not a “good
practice,” how can we learn to listen to each other’s difficulties, fears, and resistances,
recognising their presence and their underlying reasons?
• In this perspective, we must ask ourselves whether, to what extent, and in what forms the
current pastoral practices in our communities are truly capable of welcoming the life stories
of believers with same-sex attractions – sharing in the faith experience they carry and
accompanying their journey in the light of the Gospel. In a word, how can we conceive and
manage a pastoral ministry that allows itself to be challenged by this testimony? How can
we propose the demands contained in the Church’s proclamation and teaching, actualizing
them with evangelical relevance?
• The stories we have heard do not lack a critical awareness of the impact – not only personal
but communal, both social and ecclesial – of the experiences witnessed. In this regard, what
does the experience of suffering, solitude, and exclusion recounted in these stories say to and
bring to the Christian community? Is it merely a matter of “non-conformity” to conventional
ecclesial and social standards to which the person must be realigned, or does this “suffering”
speak of something deeper?
• Finally, while listening to the Word of God lived in the Church, it is necessary to address
with parrhesia the currently recurring question of whether one can speak of “marriage” in
relation to persons with same-sex attractions, equating their relationship to heterosexual
conjugal union without recognizing the differences. These include, primarily, the evident
impossibility of procreation per se linked to sexual difference, regarding which techniques
of medically assisted procreation pose further difficulties. Consequently, we must ask how
the Christian community is called to interpret and address questions relating to the
educational commitments toward children within family, ecclesial, and social life, in relation
to the de facto unions between believers of the same sex.
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