What Does the Sixth Commandment Teach?

The Sixth Commandment requires chastity according to one’s state in life and protects the dignity of human sexuality. The Catechism teaches that sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of body and soul and that it is ordered toward the conjugal love of man and woman in marriage (CCC, 2360-2362). This commandment governs not only adultery but all sexual conduct, calling believers to integrate sexuality within the whole person according to God’s plan.

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person, enabling the human being to love with an upright and undivided heart (CCC, 2337). For married persons, chastity involves faithfulness to one’s spouse and openness to children. For unmarried persons, chastity requires abstinence from all sexual activity and custody of the senses, eyes, and thoughts. All people, regardless of marital status, must cultivate interior chastity that respects the sacred character of human sexuality.

Jesus deepened this commandment beyond external acts to interior disposition.

“You have heard it said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28). This teaching reveals that sexual purity involves not only actions but thoughts, desires, and the deliberate cultivation of interior chastity that respects others as persons rather than objects of desire.

Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body provided comprehensive Catholic teaching on human sexuality, explaining that the body expresses the person and reveals God’s plan for spousal love. Sexual union in marriage images the total self-giving love of Christ for the Church. Outside marriage, sexual acts violate this sacred meaning and damage the persons involved spiritually, emotionally, and often physically. The Sixth and the Ninth Commandment relate to each other.

How Does Pornography Violate Human Dignity?

Pornography constitutes grave matter violating both human dignity and chastity. The Catechism condemns pornography as a grave offense stating that it does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others (CCC, 2354). Pornography reduces persons to objects of sexual gratification, distorts authentic human sexuality, habituates users to treating others as means of pleasure rather than persons deserving respect, and often leads to addiction.

Internet pornography has created an unprecedented moral crisis affecting Catholics across all demographics. Statistics indicate that approximately 64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women report viewing pornography at least monthly, with many accessing it weekly or daily. The average age of first exposure has dropped to 11 years old, with children often stumbling onto explicit content accidentally through internet searches. A 2016 study found that pornography use correlates with decreased relationship satisfaction, increased likelihood of infidelity, and greater difficulty with sexual intimacy in marriage (Wright et al., 2016).

Pornography addiction represents growing pastoral concern that priests report encountering regularly in confession. The neurological effects of pornography mirror drug addiction, creating dopamine-driven compulsion that escalates over time. Users often progress from soft-core to increasingly graphic and deviant material, requiring greater stimulation to achieve the same neurological reward. Many Catholic men struggle secretly with pornography while maintaining external religious practice, creating cognitive dissonance and shame that inhibits spiritual growth and honest sacramental confession.

The pornography industry systematically exploits women and increasingly children through sex trafficking, coercion, and abuse. Former performers have testified about industry coercion, violence, and drug use. The 2020 case of Girls Do Porn production company revealed systematic fraud and coercion, with producers convicted of sex trafficking after forcing women into pornography through deception and threats. Pornhub, one of the world’s largest sites, faced criminal investigation after journalists revealed that it profited from child sexual abuse material and trafficking videos. Users consuming pornography participate indirectly in this exploitation (Kristof, 2020).

What Does the Church Teach About Homosexual Acts?

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and contrary to natural law because they close the sexual act to the gift of life and do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity (CCC, 2357). However, the Church carefully distinguishes between homosexual orientation, which is not in itself sinful, and homosexual acts, which constitute grave sin. Persons with same-sex attraction possess full human dignity and are called to chastity as are all unmarried persons.

The Catechism requires that persons with homosexual orientation must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided (CCC, 2358). This teaching rejects both approval of homosexual acts and hatred toward persons with same-sex attraction. Catholics must oppose unjust discrimination while maintaining that sexual activity properly belongs only in heterosexual marriage.

The 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, creating conflict between civil law and Church teaching. The Church maintains that marriage is by nature a permanent and exclusive union between one man and one woman, ordered toward the procreation and education of offspring. No human authority can alter this reality instituted by God and written in human nature (Supreme Court of the United States, 2015). Catholics must oppose legal recognition of same-sex unions as marriages while treating all persons with charity and respect.

Contemporary culture presents same-sex relationships as morally equivalent to heterosexual marriage, creating pressure on Catholics to conform to secular norms. The 2021 Vatican statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirming that the Church cannot bless same-sex unions sparked controversy but maintained doctrinal consistency. Pope Francis emphasized pastoral accompaniment and welcome for persons with same-sex attraction while upholding Church teaching on marriage and sexuality (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2021).

Catholics with same-sex attraction face particular challenges in living chastity in a culture that celebrates sexual expression and portrays celibacy as repression. Organizations like Courage International provide spiritual support and encouragement for those committed to Church teaching. These individuals deserve admiration for embracing difficult teaching and witness powerfully to the possibility of living chastely regardless of attraction patterns. Their witness demonstrates that identity consists in being children of God, not in sexual desires.

How Does Contraception Relate to This Commandment?

The Catholic Church teaches that artificial contraception is intrinsically evil because it deliberately closes the marital act to the transmission of life. Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae reaffirmed this teaching, stating that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life (HV 11). Contraception violates both the unitive and procreative purposes of sexuality that God designed to be inseparably connected.

This teaching remains widely rejected, even among Catholics. Surveys consistently indicate that approximately 85-89% of sexually active Catholic women of childbearing age use some form of contraception, including methods the Church forbids. Many Catholics view contraception as a personal decision outside Church authority, reflecting cultural individualism and dissent from magisterial teaching more than authentic Catholic formation.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) offers morally licit alternative to contraception for spacing children. NFP methods involve observing natural fertility signs—basal body temperature, cervical mucus, or hormone levels—to identify fertile periods. Couples achieving or avoiding pregnancy practice periodic abstinence during fertile windows. Unlike contraception, which artificially blocks fertility through chemicals or barriers, NFP respects the natural design of sexuality while allowing responsible parenthood. Studies show NFP users report higher marital satisfaction and divorce rates under 5% compared to 50% among general population (Fehring, 2015).

The contraceptive mentality has profound social consequences that Humanae Vitae prophetically predicted. Pope Paul VI warned that widespread contraception would lead to general lowering of moral standards, infidelity, disrespect for women, and government coercion. Subsequent decades confirmed these predictions: sexual promiscuity increased; divorce rates soared; abortion became widespread; and governments from China to India implemented coercive population control. Contraception’s separation of sexual pleasure from procreation enabled treating sex as recreational activity and children as consumer choices rather than gifts.

What About Cohabitation Before Marriage?

The practice of couples living together before marriage, called cohabitation or trial marriage, violates the Sixth Commandment and undermines marriage itself. The Catechism teaches that carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive community of life between a man and woman has been established (CCC, 2391). Sexual intimacy properly belongs within the permanent, public commitment of marriage, not in temporary or tentative relationships.

Cohabitation has become socially accepted despite Church teaching. A 2019 Pew Research study found that 69% of Americans say cohabitation is acceptable even if the couple does not plan to marry. Among Catholics, acceptance rates mirror the general population. Many couples rationalize cohabitation as practical—testing compatibility, saving money, or following cultural norms. However, sociological evidence reveals that cohabitation before marriage correlates with higher divorce rates, lower marital satisfaction, and increased likelihood of domestic violence (Pew Research Center, 2019).

Theologically, cohabitation fails because it lacks the total commitment that marriage requires. Living together while maintaining an option to leave easily contradicts the permanent self-gift that marriage embodies. Sexual intimacy in such circumstances violates the body’s language of total self-giving, as couples essentially communicate I give myself to you completely—except I might leave. This contradiction between bodily and verbal communication damages both persons spiritually and emotionally.

Pastors face difficult situations when cohabiting couples request marriage. Some priests refuse to marry couples living together unless they separate or commit to celibacy during engagement, while others accept cohabitation as cultural reality requiring pastoral accommodation. The tension reflects broader questions about how rigorously to enforce moral teaching versus meeting people where they are and journeying with them toward holiness.

Conclusion

The Sixth Commandment stands as a vital safeguard for the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of God’s plan for human love. Far from being a mere prohibition against adultery, it is a call to integrate sexuality within the truth of the human person—created male and female, called to communion, and destined for self-giving love. Throughout this article, we have seen how the Church’s teaching confronts not only external actions but also interior dispositions, reminding every believer that purity of heart is essential for authentic love.

Modern society presents unprecedented challenges to living out this commandment. The widespread normalization of pornography, cohabitation, contraceptive use, and distorted understandings of sexuality has obscured the true meaning of the body and weakened the foundations of family life. Yet the Church, guided by Scripture and sustained by centuries of wisdom, continues to proclaim a vision of human sexuality that is both demanding and profoundly life-giving. Chastity—often misunderstood—is revealed as the pathway to freedom, integrity, and genuine love.

At the same time, the Church’s teaching is not merely doctrinal; it is pastoral. Every person, regardless of struggles or circumstances, is invited into the healing mercy of Christ and the transforming grace of the sacraments. The call to chastity is universal, but so too is the promise of God’s help. Catholics are therefore urged not only to uphold these teachings in their own lives but also to accompany others with compassion, patience, and truth.

Ultimately, the Sixth Commandment invites us to recover God’s beautiful and cohesive vision for human sexuality—a vision rooted in love, responsibility, and the inherent dignity of every person. By embracing this teaching with humility and trust, the faithful can bear powerful witness to a culture in need of hope, restoration, and authentic love.

References

Catechism of the Catholic Church. (2nd ed.). (2000). Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (2021). Response regarding blessing of same-sex unions. Vatican.

Covenant Eyes. (2020). Pornography statistics annual report. https://www.covenanteyes.com/

Fehring, R. (2015). The effectiveness of natural family planning. Current Medical Research, 22, 93-100.

Kristof, N. (2020, December 4). The children of Pornhub. The New York Times.

Paul VI. (1968). Humanae vitae [Encyclical on the regulation of birth]. Vatican.

Pew Research Center. (2019). Key facts about living together. https://www.pewresearch.org/

Supreme Court of the United States. (2015). Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644.

West, C. (2004). Theology of the body for beginners. Ascension Press.

Wright, P. J., Tokunaga, R. S., & Kraus, A. (2016). Consumption of pornography. Human Communication Research, 42(4), 565-592.