Is Masturbation a Sin? Wrong?

Q. Is masturbation wrong? Is it a sin?

A. Yes. Here is what the Catechism says about it:

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. “Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.” “The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.” For here sexual pleasure is sought 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.”

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, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.

Because sexual pleasure was created by God for babies and bonding the focused seeking of sexual pleasure outisde of natural intercourse within marriage is always disordered and grave matter. This is what masturbation is: the seeking of sexual pleasure for its own sake. You might want to read further by clicking on the posts below:

Why is the Church against Contraception?
Scriptural Evidence Against Contraception