Catholicism has always been at least (if not more than) a century behind any modern modes of thought. This is because its leadership is entirely composed of old men. Fact is that a 'young' cardinal is still a fossil in his sixties and most of them are in their 70s before they even have a chance to have a look in as Pope. Mind you, this is very much in keeping with Hippocrates ideals which state that someone is not senile until they are 90...

So, they are always going to be conservative though Benedict is more so than many. John Paul was edging to more right wing views in the end, mind. Despite a career of being relatively liberal he made some very right wing statements at the end of his life. I suspect he was being more and more reliant on 'advisors', including the soon to be Pope Benedict.

It has indeed been demonstrated that many animal species use sex for companionship rather than/as well as procreation and that includes companionship with members of the same species. Dogs do it all the time (as a means of dominance -a male dog will dry hump another male dog) and Bonobo monkeys practically use sex as a means of saying hello.