celibacy
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Celibacy is the renunciation of marriage implicitly or explicitly made, for the more perfect observance of chastity, by all those who receive the Sacrement of Orders. The candidates for the sacrament of orders are solemnly warned by the bishop at the beginning of the ceremony regarding th gravity of the obligation which they are incurring. "You ought anxiously to consider again and again what sort of a burden this is which you are taking upon you of your own accord. Up to this you are free. You may still, if you choose, turn to the aims and desires of the world. But if you receive this order it will no longer be lawful to turn back from your purpose. You will be requires to continue in the service of God, and with His assistance to observe chastity and to be bound for ever in the ministrations of the Alter, to serve who is to reign." By stepping forward despite this warning, the candidate is understood to bind himself equivalently by a vow of chastity. From then on he is unable to contract a valid marriage, and any serious transgression in the matter of this vow is a grevious sin and sacrilege.
The law of celibacy has repeatedly been the object of attack, especially in the recent month...