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Dear Father Angelo,

I would like to know about the past orientations of the Church regarding prostitution.

Thank you for your answer, God bless you.

Paola

The answer from Father Angelo

Dear Paola,

1. The Church, when intended as the Magisterium of the Church, never expressed an explicit position about this matter. Nonetheless, presenting a concrete solution falls within the competence of the civil authorities, and not of the Church. The moral teaching, proved by the Magisterium which is based upon the Holy Scripture, counts prostitution among the sins that exclude from the kingdom of God.

2. As a matter of fact, many theologians and theological schools have observed this problem from a social perspective, examining what should be the best position of civil authorities regarding this phenomenon that is undoubtedly considered degrading and sinful.

3. This perspective of analysis created three main approaches that do not represent any kind of dogmatic claim. They can be summarized as tolerance, legal prohibition and regulation.

4. Those sustaining the thesis of tolerance assume that the state cannot approve evil, but is also incapable of completely eliminating it to avoid greater damages. This approach is supported by both Saint Agustine and Saint Thomas, who says: ” Human government is derived from the Divine government, and should imitate it. Now although God is all-powerful and supremely good, nevertheless He allows certain evils to take place in the universe, which He might prevent, lest, without them, greater goods might be forfeited, or greater evils ensue” (Summa Theologiae, II-II, 10, 11). 

The greater evils that should be avoided are adultery, acts of violence, sins against nature… This is how the problem was dealt with during medieval times and partly even today.

5. This way of thinking was opposed by other theologians like Saint Alphonse, who thought that prostitution should be just prohibited. According to the thesis of legal ban, the state has to prohibit and fight prostitution. These are the motivations: the greater evils that should be eliminated might end up spreading when a tolerant approach is used. Moreover, one should take into account the disadvantages related to a softer approach to prostitution, such as the degradation of public morality and the dignity of women. Above all, it favors pandering and the sex trade, an enormous business that colludes with criminal organizations.

6. Lastly, we have the third opinion: given the impossibility to abolish this evil, many have proposed state regulation as a way to maintain greater social and medical control over the matter. This opinion was supported in the past (1500) by the Carmelites of Salamanca, who looked back to the practices of the pontifical states. A system of legal brothels would make up for the danger of sexually transmitted diseases, guarantee a higher control over the phenomenon and help avoid sex trafficking. The objective is to limit the spread and dangers of prostitution by a higher degree of state control over it, even though it is not clear if this strategy would effectively result in a decrease in the phenomenon.

7. Even today theologians lean towards one or another of these options while being all aware of the fact that they do not resolve the problem. The only solution is a virtuous life. However, as the pagan philosopher Aristotle said, most men follow their senses. The civil authorities must take this into account: while disapproving of it and aware of the fact that it can’t be eliminated, they should try to contain prostitution and remedy the correlated evils.

I wish you every good, bless you and will remember you in prayer.

Father Angelo.