Difference between, chastity and

[Questioning_1]

What is the difference between:

Chastity–

celibacy—

and

abstinence

???
???

 

[baltobetsy]

Chastity is living your sexuality in a virtuous way proper to your state in life. For the married person, it means relations open to children, for the single person it means no relations, for the consecrated person, it means no relations.

Celibacy is the vow a person makes when consecrated to God - priests, brothers, nuns, consecrated virgins, etc., are celibate. It is the state in life when you will not have relations.

Abstinence usually indicates a temporary period of not having relations - as when a married couple is trying to avoid pregnancy. It can also be the general term for not having relations. All celibate people should be abstaining, but not all who abstain are celibate.

Chastity is for everyone all the time. Celibacy is for some. Abstinence is for everybody some of the time.

Sometimes, these terms are used interchangeably, and that is incorrect. Hope this helps.

Betsy

 

[katrntogo]

Celibacy is the vow a person makes when consecrated to God - priests, brothers, nuns, consecrated virgins, etc., are celibate. It is the state in life when you will not have relations.

Not the way I have had it explained to me. A religious priest, brother, nun, sister, etc. make a vow of chastity which means no relations, ever, if they have made a solemn vow. A diocesan priest makes a promise of celibacy, which means no marriage & by virtue of that, no relations, but if they are laicized, they may marry, then have relations.

 

[baltobetsy]

Not the way I have had it explained to me. A religious priest, brother, nun, sister, etc. make a vow of chastity which means no relations, ever, if they have made a solemn vow. A diocesan priest makes a promise of celibacy, which means no marriage & by virtue of that, no relations, but if they are laicized, they may marry, then have relations.

You’re right - my answer felt kind of loosey-goosey!

But, chastity does have a broader meaning as I mentioned above. Every person is called to chastity in his or her own state in life. But the vow of chastity is as you said.

Betsy

 

[NoWhereMan]

I could be wrong, Order Priests take three vows, Poverty , Chasity, & Obedience.
Secular Priests take only one Vow, the vow of obedience to the Bishop

 

[katrntogo]

I could be wrong, Order Priests take three vows, Poverty , Chasity, & Obedience.
Secular Priests take only one Vow, the vow of obedience to the Bishop

Secular priests make a promise, not a vow; & while obedience to the Bishop is always the main promise, here, at least, a promise of celibacy is made as well (or was). I do not know if that is true everywhere, but that is what I was told when I converted (I was just full of questions for my spiritual adviser, lol).

 

[katrntogo]

You’re right - my answer felt kind of loosey-goosey!

But, chastity does have a broader meaning as I mentioned above. Every person is called to chastity in his or her own state in life. But the vow of chastity is as you said.

Betsy

You explained the general meaning of chastity well, much better than I could. I must of messed up when I tried to explain to some family members that one is chaste within their own marriage, I got some looks, but then it could be because they are not Catholic but I thought chaste meant chaste, it just has different applications. I meant it to mean relations were to be confined to the marriage partners.