Catholics: is masturbation a sin?

Question

i'm Catholic and i dont know the answer??? is it or isnt it??? thank you!

i'm a woman, i dont have sperm!

Answer 1

according to the catholic religion YES.

Answer 2

Official Catholic teaching, as I understand it, is that sex acts done outside of marriage and the marriage act are sinful. Willful sexual pleasure is not considered to be moral for anyone outside of marriage. Therefore. . . .

However, while this is the official teaching of the Church, I think you will find that many priests who will speak to you honestly about their own opinions will say that masturbation is not a serious sin and often not a sin at all.

Even if one considers masturbation a sin, there are circumstances that will alter that somewhat -- if the act is a matter of habit or if there is some excessive stress on the individual -- both the habit and the stress can take away the "full consent of the will" that is required for serious sin.

I would ask a priest in confession just what he thinks.

Answer 3

Hello Shlane... I do believe that it is generally considered a sin, but to be sure I looked it up: "The Church views sexual expression between a man and a woman in the context of marriage to be a sacred, even sacramental act. Consequently, all other sexual activity including masturbation, homosexual acts, acts of sodomy and sex outside of marriage and the use of artificial contraception as morally disordered as they frustrate the intention of God "written" in the design of the human body. " There is awhole lot more out there on the issue... but basically yeah its bad.

That sad... men and women are only human, will have moments of spiritual weakness and will indeed give into sin... and you have to think/hope that in the grand scheme of things this one is not a moral sin that will seperate you from your salvation. Otherwise a whole lot of us are in trouble.

Dan

P.S. on the whole tangent of being married and looking "lustily" at another woman is adultry... that's pretty steep, but if its in the Bible then we should do out best not to do it... so I gues masturbation is the same... do your best not to do it, but if you do then you need to be repentent.... just goes to show what a high standard was set by the Lord.... its not supposed to be easy.

Answer 4

Yes. Maturbation is a sin. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action." "The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved."
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.

2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.

Answer 5

I’m Episcopalian, and while we don’t have such rules, my Catholic friends explain it to me this way: Sex is God’s gift to bring life into the world. Therefore, for Catholics, conception begins as soon as a man and woman decide to engage in sex. This is the reason for the flat-out opposition to abortion and to the use of contraceptives. If you abort a fetus OR if you stop the semen from reaching its destination via prophylactics, you have ended a life. The same is true for masturbation. Using your “seed” in anyway other than to create a baby, is on par with having an abortion. Therefore, a woman engaging in sexual gratification other than to create a child has sinned in the eyes of the Catholic church. And please guys, don’t flame me – I neither condemn nor condone these beliefs.

Answer 6

I'm not Catholic, but we both believe in the Bible. The Bible says that looking at a woman(man for you) lustfully is adultery. Sometimes masturbation is accompanied with pornagraphy or a picture in which the individual is looking at another human being lustfully, this is adultery. In conclusion, I would say masturbation is a sin IF It also involves a picture in which the individual is looking at another human being lustfully. How do you define looking at another person lustfully. Now this is the trickery part because the Bible doesn't tell us how. Biblical there is no way to define It. I would say getting horny off of looking at another person is "looking lustfully".

Answer 7

If you're Catholic according to the Catholic religion (and that's not God) you're not suppose to waste your seed, so from that I would think masturbation is only a sin if you're a guy.

I've always wondered about this in regards to women, but if you're a guy within the Catholic church it is definitely a sin.

Sean, lapsed Catholic

Answer 8

I'm not a Catholic. I'm a Bible believing Christian.

The M Word does not appear in the Bible.

But I have asked people, "What do you think about when you do that?"

And pretty much all the guys answer something like this:

"I think about and someone look a pictures of naked girls"

And the ladies answer is pretty similar to above.

Which is what we call "Lust".

That word does appear in the Bible, the following is a quote from Jesus Himself:

Matt 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

So if you are soldier in Iraq and you are thinking about your wife back home, that's ok.

But if you not married, or if you are married and thinking about someone not your wife ( or husband ).

Then the Lust is sin.

Pastor Art

Answer 9

The Catechism classifys it as such, but current sexual theology outside of theology of the body does not.

Officially though self masturbation yes. Partner masturbation as a form of foreplay and erotic stimulation is not classified as a sin as long it is not the final act of intercourse but a precursor.

Edit
Shellie above me sex is not to performed for procreation only. It is for the bonding of the couple. There are entire documents devoted to Sex and love and bonding. Yet another FALSE statement regarding the Catholic Church.

AND

There are alot of Churches that say sex is for procreation only, just the Catholic Church is not one of them. The relationship between husband and wife is just as equal to any act of procreation.

Answer 10

Judeo-Christian tradition has taught for thousands of years:
1. Single people should be celibate.
2. Married people should be faithful to each other (adultery is wrong).

The Catholic Church recognizes the power of sex when it teaches, "Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul."

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person. A chaste person's body and spirit lives in unity and opposes any behavior that would impair that unity.

Masturbation is contrary to the human dignity of the person, anyone about whom the person has lustful thoughts, and the dignity of human sexuality.

With love in Christ.

Answer 11

oddly enough, not only is masturbation a sin, but the thought of masturbation is a sin, just as lusting after another person's spouse is as sinful as actually having said person's spouse...wanting to do the deed is equated with doing it, so even if you're just imagining playing with yourself (perhaps at a more convenient time than, say, the family dinner table) you're screwed...might as well go ahead and do it then!