In the current cultural context, the Church struggles to communicate the beauty of the Christian vision of bodiliness and sexuality, as it emerges from Sacred Scripture, from Tradition and from the Magisterium of recent Popes. It therefore seems urgent to search for better ways, that can be translated concretely into new formation programmes. We must propose to the young an anthropology of affectivity and sexuality that is also able to give the right value to chastity, showing with pedagogical wisdom its most authentic meaning for the growth of the person, in all states of life. It is about emphasizing empathetic listening, accompaniment and discernment, along the lines indicated by the recent Magisterium. For this is it necessary to devote care to the formation of pastoral workers who have credibility, beginning with the maturing of their own affective and sexual dimensions.
There are questions about the body, affectivity and sexuality that require deeper anthropological, theological and pastoral study, in whatever forms and at whatever level seems most appropriate, from local to universal.Among the questions that emerge are those regarding the difference and harmony between male and female identity and sexual inclinations. In this regard, the Synod stresses that God loves every person and the Church does the same, renewing her commitment against all discrimination and violence on sexual grounds. Equally, she reiterates the key anthropological relevance of the difference and reciprocity between men and women and believes it to be reductionist to define personal identity on the sole basis of the person’s “sexual orientation” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the pastoral care of homosexual persons, 1 October 1986, 16). Many Christian communities already offer journeys of accompaniment in faith for homosexual persons: the Synod recommends that such initiatives be supported. In these journeys, people are helped to read their own history; to adhere with freedom and responsibility to their baptismal calling; to recognize the desire to belong and contribute to the life of the community; to discern the best ways of realizing this. Thus, all young people, without exception, are helped to integrate the sexual dimension of their personality more and more fully, as they grow in the quality of their relationships and move towards the gift of self.