413 RAPE

YOUCAT Lesson 413

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

413  Why is rape a serious sin?

Someone who rapes another person thoroughly and completely debases that person.  He violently breaks into the deepest intimacy of another and wounds the victim at the core of his ability to love.  [2356]

Jesus writing in the sand by Pieter Bruegel, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London. – John 8:3-11 ….. 413

The rapist commits an outrage against the very nature of love.  An essential part of sexual union is the fact that it is a gift that can only be given freely within the context of love.  And so it is possible for rape to occur even within a marriage.  The most despicable is rape within social, hierarchical, professional, or familial relationships of dependence, for instance, between parents and children or between teachers, educators, pastors, and those who are entrusted to their protection.  386

“Those who remain silent are responsible.”  St. Edith Stein (1891-1942, Jewish-Christian, philosopher and Carmelite, killed at Auschwitz)

Offenses against chastity

  

[2356]

2356 Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. Rape deeply wounds the respect, freedom, and physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right. It causes grave damage that can mark the victim for life. It is always an intrinsically evil act. Graver still is the rape of children committed by parents (incest) or those responsible for the education of the children entrusted to them. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition