A Pastoral Letter on the Virtue of Chastity

Most Rev. Joseph F. Martino, Bishop of Scranton, has issued a pastoral letter on the virtue of chastity.

...Bishop Martino conceded that violations of chastity in the Catholic Church and in the Diocese of Scranton have made some people skeptical when the church speaks on sexual morality.

“But for just that reason it is more necessary, not less, to speak the truth about sexual morality. Sin and confusion cry out for honest, truthful speaking,” he said.

“The [C]hurch has always taught — and I teach here — that we need to find our happiness and holiness in a commitment to the chastity lived out in marital love or the chastity of celibacy lived out either in the consecrated life or the life of a single lay person in the world. These are the two paths to happiness and eternal life. There are no others.”

While some may believe that other subjects take priority, Bishop Martino stressed that “chastity is a virtue for our times, and it does take priority. That should be clear, for instance, in the wake of the scandalous events in our own church as well as those in secular society.”

The 4,100-word pastoral letter was published as a special section in the Dec. 9 edition of “The Catholic Light,” the diocesan newspaper. The letter is also being printed as a brochure and will be available to parishes, schools and others as an educational resource.

Bishop Martino noted that society’s generally permissive attitude about sex “makes the church’s teaching on chastity so necessary today. There is a vast gulf between the secularist view of sex and the Christian view of chastity.”

Source.