My work at Covenant Eyes entails helping to educate the Church on the problem of pornography. It is understood, even if not always said explicitly, that more often than not, the use of pornography is accompanied by masturbation. It is also true that masturbation is a separate sin that deserves its own treatment, and that is the purpose of this article.
Whereas “the Magisterium of the Church and the moral sense of the faithful” have been quite certain about the evil of masturbation, portions of the world see masturbation as a good or even healthy behavior. Some intelligent people and mainstream online sources allow for and even recommend masturbation for various reasons.
Because masturbation is grave matter, when done with full knowledge and full consent of the will, masturbation constitutes a mortal sin (see CCC 2352). Therefore, various claims in favor of masturbation deserve a Catholic response, so in this article I will offer a Catholic response to some claims that are made in favor of masturbation.
First Claim: Psychology and sociology show that masturbation is a normal phenomeon of sexual development.
Response: It may be that masturbation is “normal” in the sense of being common. However, it is not “normal” in the sense of being the “norm” or “standard” for how the sexuality of the human person should be expressed.
Sexuality is the means by which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts proper and exclusive to spouses, and this means must remain open “per se” to the transmission of human life. Sexuality is for spouses to become one flesh and procreate.
Masturbation uses sexuality in a way that excludes procreation and union. The Vatican document Persona Humana says that “whatever the motive for acting this way, the deliberate use of the sexual faculty outside normal conjugal relations essentially contradicts the finality of the faculty. Intercourse that is not interfered with through any type of contraception is properly called normal and natural because that is the act our sexual faculty is created for by God. Therefore, the Church teaches that masturbation is evil and always gravely immoral.”
Second Claim: Masturbation is natural, and everybody does it.
Response: The word “natural” has several definitions. One definition of “natural” is “arising easily or spontaneously,” and an inclination toward this behavior does arise easily and spontaneously within many people.
However, masturbation is not natural in the sense of the natural law—that is, of conforming to the nature of what sex is for. Therefore, masturbation is not natural because it violates the nature of sex as unitive and procreative, and in violating the nature of sex, it violates the natural law.
Third Claim: Masturbation is not condemned in the Bible.
Response: Persona Humana addresses this claim directly: “Even if it cannot be proved that Scripture condemns this sin by name, the tradition of the Church has rightly understood it to be condemned in the New Testament when the latter speaks of ‘impurity,’ ‘unchasteness,’ and other vices contrary to chastity and continence.”
Catholics do not follow sola scriptura, so the condemnation of an action by the Magisterium is sufficiently binding even if it were not condemned by name in Scripture. However, some sections of Scripture allude to masturbation more directly. God condemned Onan for “spilling his seed on the ground” in Genesis 38:9, which is where we get the term onanism, which the moral theologian Fr. Dominc Prummer says in his Handbook of Moral Theology can be either conjugal onanism, which is contraception, or solitary onanism, which is masturbation (411), since both of these acts essentially “spill the seed on the ground.” Also, my friend Dave Armstrong, in this article, shows how an argument could be made that Jesus actually had the sin of masturbation in mind when he said, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it out and throw it away,” since he is recorded saying it almost right after teaching that one who “looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Fourth Claim: Masturbation can be acceptable if it is not paired with lust, since masturbation and lust are not technically the same.
Response: From a Catholic standpoint, this is incorrect. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines lust as “disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure” (2351). Then it says, “Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.” Masturbation brings about sexual pleasure apart from its procreative and unitive purposes; therefore, it always entails lust, even if it does not entail sexual fantasies about another person.
Fifth Claim: Masturbation is healthy. It serves as legitimate self-care and stress relief.
Response: I am not a doctor, so I will not attempt to respond to this with health claims, but it seems reasonable that the effects of sex have health benefits, and it is fitting that the marital act would have health benefits, which are legitimately enjoyed by those who are married.
But since masturbation is intrinsically evil, which means it is wrong apart from the intention of the person doing it and any other circumstances, masturbation is not a morally acceptable way to obtain any potential health benefits associated with sex, because good ends do not justify immoral means.
Sixth Claim: If I am addicted to masturbation, it is not a mortal sin for me.
Response: This may be true, as the Catechism points out. It says, “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 or even extenuate moral culpability.”
However, the existence of a difficult-to-break habit or an addiction should be a cause not for complacency, but for urgency. The above quote names the factors that must be considered to “guide pastoral action” and not just to judge culpability. Something must be done to help the person whose culpability is reduced.
Further, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) says in its response to pornography, “Create in Me A Pure Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography,” that “the moral culpability of an addicted person may be lessened depending on the circumstances, but the situation is particularly grave. Addictions are very hard to overcome, and help is needed to regain one’s freedom” (29). If someone gets to a place in his life where each instance of masturbation is not a mortal sin due to diminished freedom, each instance still is objectively serious because it is harmful to the user’s soul and brain, and it is harmful to the people being used in the accompanying pornography or in the thoughts of the person who is engaging in masturbation.
The Catechism, in paragraph 1793, says that even when responsibility for evil committed is lessened, “it remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder.” Also, “one must work to overcome the errors of moral conscience,” and from this it can be inferred that we must work to regain freedom when we discover that we have an addiction.
Each commission of the sin of masturbation is also harmful to the loved ones of the user because that person is being less than he can be for his loved ones, his family, and his community.
This is not included here to increase shame, but to speak truth and offer adequate guidance toward the freedom we all are offered in Christ. The love of God, neighbor, and self that we are called to must inspire us to work to eliminate masturbation from our lives. Whatever freedom we are unable to regain while alive will need to be regained in purgatory.
IMPORTANT NOTE: While we may be able to recognize a bad habit in ourselves, it is not recommended to self-diagnose addiction. I recommend leaving diagnosis to a mental health professional.
Seventh Claim: Any stimulation of the genital organs qualifies as masturbation.
Response: In the Catechism is correct, the sentence that describes the essence of the problem of masturbation is separated from the description of the act. Therefore, the definition is “the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure 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.’”
It is accepted by many moral theologians that married couples may engage in activities that might fall under the above definition as preparation for the marital act. Since such acts take place within the “sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation is achieved,” such acts are not considered masturbation according to most moral theologians (see here, for example).
Eighth Claim: If the man’s fertility needs to be tested, it is necessary to masturbate to obtain a semen sample.
Response: The USCCB published guidelines for Catholic couples in a document called “Reproductive Technology Evaluation and Treatment of Infertility: Guidelines for Catholic Couples.” In their list of reproductive technologies in disagreement with Catholic teachings, “obtaining a sample of seminal fluid by masturbation” is first on the list.
Among the technologies compatible with Catholic teachings, “seminal fluid samples can be obtained from a non-lubricated, perforated condom after normal intercourse.” So there is a way to meet this legitimate need that does not involve the immoral means of masturbation.
The world offers many reasons to make people believe that masturbation could be acceptable or even necessary for them. However, the Church has made clear that masturbation is not morally acceptable for any intention or under any circumstances.
This list is not meant to compound shame for anyone who struggles with this behavior. Instead, it is meant to encourage my fellow Catholics that we do not have to accept the stories of the world that portray the teachings of our Church in a negative light. Further, the teachings of the Church can be lived out with joy.
Some of the needs that lead people toward this behavior, and toward pornography use, can legitimately be met in other ways. Our sexuality and chastity are a great gift from God that increase the human population and help us to love God and others. Seeing clearly behaviors such as masturbation and pornography use for what they are and eliminating them from our lives, though not easy, are important and worthwhile steps to a holier and happier life.