Rick Santorum has said he believes gay men and lesbians should remain celibate.

During an interview with CNN's John King, Santorum said his faith teaches that the act of gay sex – not necessarily being gay – is morally wrong.

When King brought up Santorum's 2003 remarks linking gay sex to “man on dog,” Santorum, who placed second in Iowa behind Mitt Romney, asserted that he had not made the comparison of homosexuality to bestiality.

“Hold on one second, John, read the quote. I said it's not. It is not. I didn't say it is. I says it's not,” Santorum said.

“I'm trying to understand what you're trying to make the point. I said it's not those things. I didn't connect them. I specifically excluded them.”

Santorum later added: “You know my Catholic faith teaches that it's actions that are the problems, not necessarily someone's feelings. And I was reflecting Catholic teaching on the subject. … That one can have desires to do things which we believe are wrong but it's when you act out those things that is a problem.”

(Related: Rick Santorum equating gay sex to bestiality considered by Fox News' Shep Smith.)