Chastity
CHASTITY
BASIC R.C. BELIEF Chastity is synonymous with purity, but it is often confused with virginity. Simple chastity is pure living according to one’s station in life.
Chastity is a voluntary vow taken by a religious (priest or nun). The vow of chastity is broken if the priest or nun engage in sexual acts.
From CATHOLICISM AGAINST ITSELF, Lambert. “Celibates are not chaste: celibacy is not necessarily chastity; by a large majority. Unless something other that selfishness suggests this choice of life, the word is apt to be a misnomer for profligacy, and one who takes the vow of celibacy does not break it by sinning against the sixth commandment. He is true to it until he weds. (EXPLANATION OF CATHOLIC MORALS, p. 149)”
SECULAR JOURNALS From GREENVILLE NEWS, 8.12.90. “Up to half of Roman Catholic priests in the United States do not uphold their vows of celibacy, according to estimates from a twenty-five-year study by a former Roman Catholicm priest who is now a psychotherapist. W. Richard Sipe’s study indicates that 20% of the priests have a clear pattern of heterosexual behaviour, 10% to 13% are homosexually active, and 6% are involved sexually with minors. While half of priests generally support the idea of celibacy, only 2% fully achieve it, Sipe says.”