Celibacy and health issues

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People have told me before that I needed to have sex for ehalth reasons… it just makes me want to give them a lecture, and otherwise I am a very peace-loving person.
I am still a virgin so will I get cancer now?? don’t think so, at least not because of that.
 
Kathrin said:
I am still a virgin so will I get cancer now?? don’t think so, at least not because of that.
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No, not because of that. If you live long enough, you will get cancer and in the US, your lifetime risk is 1 in 2 for men, 1 in 3 for women.

Promiscuity would be much more likely to cause cancer than abstinence.
 
Shaolen said:
So I’m civilly married and me and my wife are going through marriage prep process. My wife wants our co validation to take place in December. I stated that we should do abstinence. She doesn’t want to follow this. I think she went to her work (rehab center) and asked the RNs there about it because just last night she mentioned that if we don’t use our reproductive systems for that long we will be at risk for pancreatic cancer or other health issues. Is this true? Are there studies on priests nuns or monks on this or any other health issues due to not using them?
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Firstly, I would not wait so long.

Secondly, I have often heard the argument about the “need” for sex from a health standpoint, but this is (almost) always from the male perspective. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it from the female perspective. I think it is even more dubious medically. Of course, as Bookcat points out, this issue is morally moot anyway.
 
Shaolen said:
Sorry I meant prostate cancer. So I’m just wondering if there’s any studies though that go against the theory that it can cause health problems?
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So, your wife’s concern is for your prostate? Does she believe men who marry at 25 are much more protected from prostate cancer than those marrying at 35?
 
I would think if there was an argument to be made here at all that it would be more on the mental health side than the physical one. 🙂
 
Shaolen said:
Ok so I searched if anyone had asked a similar question and found one and there were links given to studies that suggest otherwise for celibacy leading to prostate cancer. Here are the links

umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/prostate-cancer

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7242091

The UMM site lists risks for prostate cancer and no where says that abstinence or celibacy is a risk. The second link shows that the rate in catholic priests wasn’t any higher than the general public. If anyone has further articles/studies etc. it would be greatly appreciated.
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I read both links and cannot find the comments you made.

First, where exactly in the umm link is the reference celibacy as a risk?

Second in the other link (ncbi) it does not say that the risk rate in priests is not higher than the population at large. It says the risk is lower which obviously does not support the argument that celibacy means a higher risk!
 
thistle said:
I read both links and cannot find the comments you made.

First, where exactly in the umm link is the reference celibacy as a risk?

Second in the other link (ncbi) it does not say that the risk rate in priests is not higher than the population at large. It says the risk is lower which obviously does not support the argument that celibacy means a higher risk!
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I believe you misread what I said. I confirmed what you just said
 
Joie_de_Vivre said:
If they do not have a valid marriage there is absolutely no “martial debt” and the only sexual “debt” that is owed is to refuse to engage in sex until they are married.
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You did notice the quotation marks and the “as it were” phrase didn’t you?

It is interesting that a Catholic who has sinned mortally is still capable of perfect contrition and being Sanctified prior to any Confession with a priest.

So to say that two virgin Catholics who have committed themselves to each other in exactly the same way as a Canonically married couple have to pretend there has been no history or sexual awakening between them when they want to set things “right” …is a little strange. Lets remember the priests role in the Sacrament is ultimately only to officially witness a Catholic couple manifest the Sacrament between themselves.

This reality is further bolstered by the validity of RadSan marriages where a couple allegedly “living in sin” are officially “approved” as having been married in the eyes of God from the first moment the couple gave public human consent to each other (which may have been in a registry office). If this is true were they really “living in sin” for those years before the RadSan was declared?

So there are a range of pastoral options a priest can give in this situation.
He certainly wouldn’t jump straight to your black and white view without thoroughly investigatin the situation and historical details.

We do not know those details.
All we can do is point out the range of possibilities and advise them to talk more deeply with their P.P. re these matters.
 
JSSD said:
No, not because of that. If you live long enough, you will get cancer and in the US, your lifetime risk is 1 in 2 for men, 1 in 3 for women.

Promiscuity would be much more likely to cause cancer than abstinence.
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It was a rhetorical question, of course I do not believe that. And even IF it heightened my risk, that is still not a reason to sin!!! As somebody esle pointed out already.

I mean, I would not kill my smoking neighbor in order to not breathe in his smoke, right? (I might tell him to cut back though 😉 😉 😉 )

By the way, I don’t live in the US ;).
 
I suspect though that there might be a connection between abstaining from sex against one’s will, and the incidence of a disease like cancer.

It doesn’t seem like this could be scientifically tested, but going by common sense, it seems plausible that someone doing something they hate could have negative consequences for them.

If someone is celibate but hates to be so, that hatred (and the actions they undertake in this hatred) could conceivably deteriorate both their physical and mental health.
 
doing something for the love of God, in order to keep His commandments… I would say is different from doing something with hatred… 🙂
 
Kathrin said:
doing something for the love of God, in order to keep His commandments… I would say is different from doing something with hatred…
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People who resent abstinence don’t seem to see it that way.
 
Kathrin said:
It was a rhetorical question, of course I do not believe that. And even IF it heightened my risk, that is still not a reason to sin!!! As somebody esle pointed out already.

I mean, I would not kill my smoking neighbor in order to not breathe in his smoke, right? (I might tell him to cut back though 😉 😉 😉 )

By the way, I don’t live in the US ;).
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It wasn’t so much directed at you as just further commentary on risk/benefit.
 
I guess from what I’ve been seeing in these studies, is that abstinence/celibacy isn’t a “risk” of prostate cancer, rather one study suggests that the more you’re using it the even less likely it is. It seems hardly any celibate priests suffered death from prostate cancer and even if we’re diagnosed with it it’s people of later years and they usually out live it. This leaves me to believe it’s not a real factor to even really think about for my situation of abstaining for the period until our wedding. What’s also interesting is that my wife was concerned about her getting the cancer but all the articles about cancer and sex connections are all about the men. I haven’t found any that suggest women get cancer from abstaining or celibacy.
 
Shaolen said:
So I’m civilly married and me and my wife are going through marriage prep process. My wife wants our co validation to take place in December. I stated that we should do abstinence. She doesn’t want to follow this. I think she went to her work (rehab center) and asked the RNs there about it because just last night she mentioned that if we don’t use our reproductive systems for that long we will be at risk for pancreatic cancer or other health issues. Is this true? Are there studies on priests nuns or monks on this or any other health issues due to not using them?
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Since you are civilly married you are not having sex outside of wedlock.

Please don’t withhold physical love from your wife UNLESS you want to drive her away from God and the Catholic faith.
 
Boy_Wonder said:
Since you are civilly married you are not having sex outside of wedlock.

Please don’t withhold physical love from your wife UNLESS you want to drive her away from God and the Catholic faith.
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That is not the Catholic position…
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
That is not the Catholic position…
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Are you sure? I’d heard that a couple who are civilly married or married in a non-sacramental religious wedding are not committing adultery. Maybe I misunderstood, but that’s what I thought the rule is.
 
Shaolen said:
I guess from what I’ve been seeing in these studies, is that abstinence/celibacy isn’t a “risk” of prostate cancer, rather one study suggests that the more you’re using it the even less likely it is. It seems hardly any celibate priests suffered death from prostate cancer and even if we’re diagnosed with it it’s people of later years and they usually out live it. This leaves me to believe it’s not a real factor to even really think about for my situation of abstaining for the period until our wedding. What’s also interesting is that my wife was concerned about her getting the cancer but all the articles about cancer and sex connections are all about the men. I haven’t found any that suggest women get cancer from abstaining or celibacy.
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Women do have some structures deemed homologous to the male prostate. I believe cancer in that area is however relatively rare. I would suggest your conclusion that the suggested medical issue is in fact a “non-issue”, is correct.

Why is the process you’re following to be married in the Church so lengthy? Why does it need to be so?
 
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