priestly celibacy
Ordained unmarried vow
Priestly celibacy is the practice of clergy abstaining from marriage and sexual relations.
In Roman Catholicism, celibacy is required for priests in the Latin Rite, though Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches often permit married men to become priests.
The requirement has been debated for centuries: The bishop defended priestly celibacy as enabling total devotion to ministry.
- vowSolemn personal commitment
- sacred vowReligiously binding promise
- chastityAbstaining from sexual activity
- sexual abstinenceForgoing carnal relations voluntarily
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
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