Chastity v Celibacy

[Nelka]

I know the difference between a married man living a chaste life with his wife and a celibate priest but what about a single man, would chastity and celibacy be the same thing for him? Also homosexuals are called to a chaste life, why not a celibate life, is it the same for him too?

Thanks.

 

[Vico]

I know the difference between a married man living a chaste life with his wife and a celibate priest but what about a single man, would chastity and celibacy be the same thing for him? Also homosexuals are called to a chaste life, why not a celibate life, is it the same for him too?

Thanks.

The word celibacy can mean unmarried but is specifically used for priestly celibacy in the vocation. In that sense, some will not be called to a celibate life, but all are to live a chaste life.

The Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders shows that the Church “cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.’”

 

[ChurchSoldier]

I know the difference between a married man living a chaste life with his wife and a celibate priest but what about a single man, would chastity and celibacy be the same thing for him? Also homosexuals are called to a chaste life, why not a celibate life, is it the same for him too?

Thanks.

Yes.

 

[Joie_de_Vivre]

I know the difference between a married man living a chaste life with his wife and a celibate priest but what about a single man, would chastity and celibacy be the same thing for him? Also homosexuals are called to a chaste life, why not a celibate life, is it the same for him too?

Thanks.

Everyone is called to chastity and the Catechism reifies that for gay people. Gay people can get married to someone of the opposite sex and that is why they aren’t called to celibacy.

Celibacy isn’t just singleness, it is abstaining from marriage.

 

[thistle]

I know the difference between a married man living a chaste life with his wife and a celibate priest but what about a single man, would chastity and celibacy be the same thing for him? Also homosexuals are called to a chaste life, why not a celibate life, is it the same for him too?

Thanks.

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

CHASTITY. The virtue that moderates the desire for sexual pleasure according to the principles of faith and right reason. In married people, chastity moderates the desire in conformity with their state of life; in unmarried people who wish to marry, the desire is moderated by abstention until (or unless) they get married; in those who resolve not to marry, the desire is sacrificed entirely.

Chastity and purity, modesty and decency are comparable in that they have the basic meaning of freedom from whatever is lewd or salacious. Yet they also differ. Chastity implies an opposition to the immoral in the sense of lustful or licentious. It suggests refraining from all acts or thoughts that are not in accordance with the Church’s teaching about the use of one’s reproductive powers. It particularly stresses restraint and an avoidance of anything that might defile or make unclean the soul because the body has not been controlled in the exercise of its most imperious passion. (Etym. Latin castus, morally pure, unstained.)

 

[GEddie]

Everybody is called to chastity.

For the unmarried, this means sexual abstinence; for those who are married, it means fidelity to one’s spouse.

Celibacy means remaining unmarried. Only those in the priestly or religious vocations are called to such.

ICXC NIKA

 

[commenter]

The single person is called to chastity of course, but this can include dating, etc, as long as they avoid near occasions of loss of chastity. Celibacy includes chastity but goes beyond that - it’s a “commitment to”, not just a “refrain from”. Celibacy would preclude looking around for a potential partner.

Celibacy is just one part of a larger pattern, which usually includes either priesthood and/or a religious community. There is also a provision for consecrated virgins, not part of a religious community but with a commitment to the Church. There is unfortunately little mention of this. We unfortunately tend to equate celibacy with priesthood or religious life.

I believe in our current culture, in which sexual gratification is almost enshrined as a right if not perhaps a god, celibacy can be a powerful witness to the gospel. Celibacy is “for” something, or rather for God and people in a special way, rather than regarding sex as evil. However in saying that I certainly welcome married clergy converting from other denominations, to Catholic priesthood. I am undecided about whether ordination to priesthood should be expanded to other married men; need (name removed by moderator)ut from people who know more about this than me.

When I was in grammar school, in the JFK era, some boys responded to the vocations talk by entering the seminary after 8th grade - boarding school. Some orders of sisters took in high school “aspirants” during that time as well, with no vows yet. In hindsight, this was probably not the best plan for some; years later, some asked what did I miss out on? Celibacy is indeed a treasure, but must be a free, informed choice.

 

[JamalChristophr]

It seems to me that celibacy involves a very deliberate choice by a person to remain unmarried and live a life of chastity in that state.

I am unmarried and obviously called to remain chaste until I did get married. (Well, chastiry looks different in whatever state we are in.) If I never did marry in this life, but it was not intentional, I don’t think it is celibacy exactly. Maybe I’m wrong.

 

[Bookcat]

Celibacy means remaining unmarried. Only those in the priestly or religious vocations are called to such.

One need not be called the the Priesthood or religious life to be called to celibacy. Those are only two examples of vocations to celibacy.

 

[thistle]

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

CELIBACY. The state of being unmarried and, in Church usage, of one who has never been married. Catholicism distinguishes between lay and ecclesiastical celibacy, and in both cases a person freely chooses for religious reasons to remain celibate.

Lay celibacy was practiced already in the early Church. The men were called “the continent” (continentes) and women “virgins” (virgines). They were also known as ascetics who were encouraged to follow this form of life by St. Paul. According to the Apostle, “An unmarried man can devote himself to the Lord’s affairs, all he need worry about is pleasing the Lord . . . In the same way an unmarried woman, like a young girl, can devote herself to the Lord’s affairs; all she need worry about is being holy in body and spirit” (I Corinthians 7:32, 34). Throughout history the Church has fostered a celibate life in the lay state. Towering among the means of sanctity available to the laity, declared the Second Vatican Council, “is that precious gift of divine grace given to some by the Father to devote themselves to God alone more easily with an undivided heart in virginity or celibacy. This perfect continence for love of the kingdom of heaven has always been held in high esteem by the Church as a sign and stimulus of love, and as a singular source of spiritual fertility in the world” (Constitution on the Church, 42).

Ecclesiastical celibacy was a logical development of Christ’s teaching about continence (Matthew 19:10-12). The first beginnings of religious life were seen in the self-imposed practice of celibacy among men and women who wished to devote themselves to a lifetime following Christ in the practice of the evangelical counsels. Celibacy was one of the features of the earliest hermits and a requirement of the first monastic foundations under St. Pachomius (c. 290-346). Over the centuries religious celibacy has been the subject of the Church’s frequent legislation. The Second Vatican Council named chastity first among the evangelical counsels to be practiced by religious and said that “it is a special symbol of heavenly benefits, and for religious it is a most effective means of dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to the divine service and the works of the apostolate” (Decree on the Up-to-date Renewal of Religious Life, 12). (Etym. Latin caelibatus, single life, celibacy.)