Diversity of Roman Catholic beliefs about masturbation:
Part 3: Loss of virginity? Implications of
church teachings.
During medical procedures.
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Can a person lose their virginity as a result of masturbating?
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia's entry under "Virginity:"
"There are two elements in virginity: the material element, that is to
say, the absence, in the past and in the present, of all complete and
voluntary delectation, whether from lust or from the lawful use of
marriage...Virginity is irreparably lost by sexual pleasure, voluntarily and
completely experienced." 1
Participants at Catholic Answers Forums debated whether a voluntary
act of masturbation would represent "sexual pleasure" and thus result in a loss
of virginity from a theological perspective. There was a general consensus that:
"....sexual pleasure, intentionally felt, is loss of virginity according to
the traditional catholic definition. Still, that is not what "virginity"
means socially or culturally." 2
Implications of the church's teaching on masturbation:
If the Church's teaching is true, then there are a number of implications
associated with masturbation:
Timing: This is of paramount
importance. If a person experiences three events on a single day:
- Masturbation under conditions that
make it a mortal sin, and
- Going to confession and having all
prior mortal sins absolved, and
- Dying,
the church teaches that they will almost
certainly go to either Purgatory or
Hell. Direct transfer to Heaven is restricted to
very few individuals who have led exemplary lives.
If the events happen in the above order,
then the individual would go to Purgatory for a finite interval of torture.
Eventually they will be sufficiently purified to enter Heaven and the
presence of God. But if the order of events is altered, such that they go to
confession, commit a mortal sin and then die, they would go to Hell to be
tortured without any hope of release or mercy. This would result in torture for an
infinitely long interval as punishment for a single sinful act lasting a few minutes or less. Thus if a person is planning to engage in masturbation, they might delay the act until they believe that they are in little danger of dying until they can confess the act.
Medical implications:
Studies have shown that frequent
masturbation during youth and young adulthood by males lowers the chance that they will develop
prostate cancer later in life. Thus, Roman Catholic men who follow the
church teachings on masturbation can expect to experience a greater
chance of death from this form of cancer and a shortened life expectancy on average. The church's ban on masturbation appears
to be in
opposition to its normal pro-life position. The Catholic Church's "culture of life" becomes a culture of death.
Salvation implications for non-Catholics:
Surveys show that about 95% of male
adults and 65 to 70% of female adults masturbate. If we assume that the rate of
masturbation is more or less equal across all religions, then these data
will hold for non-Catholics as well as Catholics. So if even one incidence of
masturbation during a person's lifetime rises to the level of a mortal sin,
their eternal fate is threatened. Fortunately for
Catholics, they have access to confession and absolution that can restore their
salvation. The fate of
non-Catholics is less certain. Since Vatican II (1962 to 1965
CE) the Church has
taught that salvation is possible for non-Catholics. But the church is very short on
specifics.
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Masturbation as part of a medical procedure:
About one in eight opposite-sex couples are infertile. The percentage appears
to be growing. Most can be helped by fertility clinics who use various
techniques such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) -- popularly called
artificial insemination -- and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Both normally require the husband to masturbate in order to produce a sperm sample to evaluate his fertility. If IUI or IVF are performed, he is required to masturbate a second time. He must sin twice, according to the Church.
An article in
This Rock magazine, a Catholic periodical, states:
"By and large, Protestant theologians agree that infertility procedures
that are homologous or exclusive -- using only the husband's sperm and/or his
wife's eggs -- are biblically defensible. Because of its profound understanding
of the dignity of the human person, though, the Catholic Church holds that
no form of artificial insemination or [Assisted Reproductive Technology] (ART)
is permissible."
"The primary reason the Church opposes IUI and IVF is that these techniques
frustrate the unitive aspect of the marital act....the unitive end of
marriage encompasses the personal and spiritual good of the spouses
themselves. One indication of this breach in unity is that artificial
interventions (excepting a tubal ovum transfer with sperm) always require
masturbation."
"...babies produced through IUI and IVF are just as cute, loved, and
wonderful as any other children. The joy they bring to their parents is also
just as real, if not more intense. This happiness, though, comes at the
expense of the babies who have been denied the right to be conceived through
a personal act. Needless to say, children created through artificial
techniques are persons; they have eternal souls. Once conceived they also
have a right to be loved and protected by their parents and society. Still,
no one would say that every act that results in the conception of a child is
morally licit. Rape, for instance, may also result in the conception of a
child. 3
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "Virginity," Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), at: http://www.newadvent.org/
- "Masturbation = Lost Virginity?," Catholic Answers Forums, at: http://forums.catholic.com/
- Jameson and Jennifer Taylor, "Babies Deserve Better. What You Need to
Know If You're Struggling with Infertility," This Rock, 2006-APR, at: http://www.catholic.com/ This URL is part of an archived section of Catholic.com and may be deleted at any time.
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