For Faithful & Fulfilling Romance

In response to Catholic blogger Ronald Conte’s claim that all sexual stimulation outside penetrative intercourse is gravely sinful, this article examines the teaching of St. Alphonsus Liguori and the broader Catholic moral tradition. It explains why incomplete sexual acts and marital foreplay between spouses have historically been treated far less restrictively than Conte suggests.

Can Catholic spouses engage in self-stimulation as preparation for the marital act? Drawing on the Catechism and the traditional consensus of Catholic moral theologians, this article explains why self-stimulation ordered toward conjugal relations with one’s spouse is not considered masturbation in the morally condemned sense.

Is it sinful for Catholic spouses to engage in marital intimacy simply for pleasure? In this excerpt, renowned moral theologian Fr. John C. Ford, S.J., examines the traditional Catholic concern with acting ob solam voluptatem (“for pleasure alone”) and explains why, in light of various papal decrees, seeking sexual pleasure within rightly ordered marital intimacy need not be sinful or contrary to the purposes of marriage.

In Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis shares many beautiful insights about the goodness of sexual pleasure within the marital act, which are combined with appropriate warnings against seeking only pleasure to the exclusion of love and all other honorable ends, and in sharing these insights, contributes to an overall positive view of the Magisterium of sexual pleasure in the marital act and in marriage.

Every so often we like to open the floor to your questions!

Have a question about Catholic sexual morality? Ask anything from challenging marital intimacy questions to moral questions about NFP, or even about chaste dating. All questions will receive a thoughtful, faithful reply.

In this article, Theo McManigal discusses the difference between natural family planning and contraception, and why they are morally different.

The following excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church gives the teaching of the Church on sexuality in marriage, the obligation of fidelity and fertility, as well as Church teaching on NFP, responsible parenthood, and immoral methods of conception. “Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops—Libreria Editrice Vaticana.” 

This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue of Horizons, the official magazine of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, and is republished here with Fr. Loya’s permission.