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The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal is currently being dealt with by NFL officials, and already another bounty has been issued: $1 million in exchange for proof that Tim Tebow is no longer a virgin. A controversial website that helps married individuals have affairs, AshleyMadison.com, is offering $1 million to the woman who can prove she has been sexually involved with the New York Jets' quarterback. "I personally thought it was a very offensive publicity stunt...And I think that not only is it insulting to highlight Tim in that way, but I think it's insulting to all the people who...

Benedict XVI Calls Christians to Rediscover Chastity Addresses US Bishops on Issues of Marriage, Sexuality By Kathleen NaabVATICAN CITY, MARCH 9, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says that chastity might be countercultural and challenging, but the entire Christian community should recover an appreciation for it.The Pope said this today in an address to a group of bishops from the midwest of the United States, who are in Rome for their five-yearly ad limina visit.The Holy Father's talk, which he presented as a continuation of reflections on "certain aspects of the evangelization of American culture," resonated in the social and political...

Archbishop Timothy Dolan NEW YORK, January 26, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholics in a sex-saturated society need to “regain the upper ground,” and preach “the ancient wisdom of chastity and purity,” New York Archbishop and Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan told his congregation last Sunday. In a powerful sermon delivered at St. Patrick’s cathedral, Dolan reflected on the second reading from that Sunday, in which St. Paul tells the Corinthians that the body is a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” and exhorts Christians to avoid sins of the flesh. To listen to the complete homily, click here. The archbishop, who is also the...

Women religious at World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid. Washington D.C., Dec 10, 2011 / 08:05 am (CNA).- An article claiming that nuns should use contraception to lower their risk of breast, ovarian and uterine cancers drew criticism from medical professionals who say the study’s basis is seriously flawed.Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life International, said the argument was so poorly made that she initially thought the article was a parody.“It’s that bad,” she told CNA on Dec. 8, adding that the claims were not only outlandish but unsupported by the evidence presented in the analysis.Australian researchers Kara...

A young Christian at an purity rally spreads the word. True love doesn’t wait after all. That’s the implication in the upcoming October issue of an evangelical magazine that claims that young, unmarried Christians are having premarital sex almost as much as their non-Christian peers. The article in Relevant magazine, entitled “(Almost) Everyone’s Doing It,” cited several studies examining the sexual activity of single Christians. One of the biggest surprises was a December 2009 study, conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, which included information on sexual activity. While the study’s primary report did not explore...

Steve Gershom (a pseudonym) is a gay Catholic man in his late twenties. His blog, stevegershom.com, has been around for some months, but he has just decided to make it public. It's original, funny, poignant -- and culturally important. You can also find him on Twitter as stevegershom. I am profoundly grateful to Steve for agreeing to write this post for the Bubble. +++++++ When Leila asked me to write about gay marriage, the first thing I found out was how little I know about it. If I wanted to say anything coherent, I'd have to have definite beliefs about some deeper,...

Featured Term (selected at random):NATURAL SINS A term used to describe those sins against chastity in which the natural purpose of the sexual act is or can be attained, but they are performed outside the legitimate bonds of matrimony. Implicit in such acts is the malice of committing a sin against some other virtue besides chastity. Thus adultery, rape, and abduction are crimes against justice' formication sins against the justice due to the offspring, the community, and the unmarried partner; incest is opposed to familial piety; and sacrilege offends against the virtue of religion for a person vowed to celibacy....

The Presbyterian Church USA has opened the door for ordaining gay ministers, deacons and elders. The church's constitution used to have a requirement for its leaders to "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness." However, recently the PCUSA has dropped that stipulation and now nebulously requires church leaders "submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life"--whatever that means! In doing this the PCUSA contradicts the Bible's clear teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman: i.e. Adam and Eve not Adam...

Washington D.C., May 12, 2011 / 12:39 am (CNA).- The Presbyterian Church USA has voted to remove clergy requirements of marital fidelity or single chastity, thus allowing the ordination of ministers and lay leaders who are openly homosexual or living in unmarried relationships.“This is a lonely day for Presbyterians who believe what the Bible and the Church have consistently taught: that God’s will is that we be faithful in marriage or chaste in singleness. Now we belong to a denomination that is no longer sure it believes that teaching,” said Allan Wisdom, a director of Presbyterian Action at the...

Folks, recently a brother asked for my advice as to how live in married chastity, meaning, the right use of that sacred and pure gift of sexual love exclusively directed to one’s spouse. That brother was facing some difficulties in his life which he wanted to conquer in Jesus’ Name. I want to share my answer to him, hoping that others too, may benefit: Like you, I am a married man with children. I’m familiar with temptations of the flesh. Thanks to Our Lord and His grace I’ve been able to discipline my mind and my body to avoid these...

MINNEAPOLIS — A Lutheran pastor in Minneapolis who opposes homosexuals being allowed to lead congregations said Monday he is attracted to men, but that he's not a hypocrite because he never acted on his urges. The Rev. Tom Brock told The Associated Press he has known for years he is sexually attracted to men, but doesn't consider himself gay because he never acted on it. In June, the Minnesota gay magazine Lavender reported that Brock was a member of a support group for Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction. Brock's church, the Hope Lutheran Church, placed him on leave while...

This is a troubling story. There are support groups of all kinds. Groups that help you stay sober or drug free. There are groups that support you if you battle gambling addiction or even porn addiction. The one thing that all these groups have in common is a bond of privacy. What gets talked about in the group stays in the group. But what if what you are battling something that others don't want you battling. Does your privacy go out the window? A Lutheran Pastor who is opposed to gay clergy suffers himself from same-sex attraction. But this Pastor...

It is not a new thing for Christianity to be accused of trying to take the fun out of life, especially in matters of sex, by upholding taboos which are simply contradictory to human nature. The pagan contemporaries of the early Christians scoffed at their insistence on premarital chastity and marital fidelity, and more than one martyr in the first centuries was a victim of what we now understand to have been acts of sadism. Exercise of power by individuals and groups was often associated with a wanton cruelty that had its origins in sexual pleasure heightened by causing others...

Friday, April 09, 2010 The Validity of Homosexual Vows of Chastity in Religious Life By Regis Scanlon We are all too painfully aware of the problems that homosexuality in the priesthood has caused the Catholic Church. When the John Jay College of Criminal Justice conducted its research into clerical sex abuse for the U.S. bishops in 2004, it found not a pedophilia crisis but what Dr. Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, described as a pattern of "homosexual predation on American Catholic youth." The first question that comes to mind is: Should the Church accept homosexuals into diocesan...

The current battles over clerical celibacy are nothing new. When mandatory celibacy was first universally imposed on the clergy a millennium ago, clergy and laity alike broke into riotous rebellion for more than two generations, and a good number of bishops and priests flouted these laws for several generations more. When the Protestant Reformation broke out half a millennium ago, clerical celibacy and marriage were among the most bitter grievances over which the Western Church ultimately splintered. Today, the exposures of child abuse by some enterprising Catholic priests has rejoined these ancient battles within Catholicism and between Catholics and Protestants...

Chastity talk resonates with Baltimore teens Sacred Heart, Glyndon, parishioners Allison Boyd and Katie Lutz share a moment inside the Sprint Center. (CR Staff/Matt Palmer) Matt Palmer mpalmer@CatholicReview.org KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Adults talking sexuality with a bunch of teens is typically a recipe for awkwardness. So, when a husband and wife team, Jason and Crystalina Evert, stood in front of 21,000 teenagers Nov. 20 and preached the values of chastity, the last thing anyone expected was for it to go over like gangbusters. But, that's exactly what happened. At the end of the Everts' nearly 40-minute presentation at the...

The temptation to have sex before marriage is as old as marriage itself. More than 1,600 years ago, St. Augustine, grappling with his desires, cried out to God, "Give me chastity . . . but not yet!"What is chastity? The word is often used to mean simply abstaining from sex, as if it were equivalent to celibacy. So it may be strange to learn that, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "All Christ's faithful are called to lead a chaste life." If that meant total abstinence, how would there be any new Catholics? (After all, cloning is...

Author: Barb Ernster | Source: National Catholic Register Modesty En Vogue   At a time when exposed midriffs, pierced navels and tattooed backsides are all the rage, "Pure Fashion" shows hope to offer an antidote. At a time when exposed midriffs, pierced navels and attooed backsides are all the rage, the pressure is on young girls to grin and "bare" it. Everywhere you turn, Catholic parents - their influence challenged by the onslaught of writhing pop idols on TV and the prevalence of racy attire at the shopping mall - are lamenting the loss of their daughters´ modesty. "It used to...

Political and social activist Chastity Bono – the only child of entertainers Cher and the late Sonny Bono – began undergoing a sex change shortly after her 40th birthday on March 4. "Cher is very supportive and has known about Chastity wanting to do this for a very long time," a source tells PEOPLE. "This will be a long process but it's something Chastity has wanted to do for many years." Bono's spokesman, Howard Bragman, told TMZ, which first reported the story, "Yes, it's true – Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his...

Fatima and the Theology of the Body: Part II May 22nd, 2009 by Christopher West In honor of Mary, I’ve chosen to focus my columns this month on what I consider an intriguing connection between the messages of Fatima and John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (TOB). In the previous column, I explained how the assassination attempt on John Paul II was a fulfillment of the "third secret" of Fatima. Coincidentally, the day he was shot – May 13, 1981 – was not only the annual memorial of Fatima, it was also the day he had planned to establish...

Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 7, 2009 / 04:13 pm (CNA).- Bishop Juan Ruben Martinez of Posadas in Argentina said celibacy cannot be reduced to a "mere imposition of the Church" and that "bad examples and even our own limitations do not invalidate the contribution of so many who, in the past and today, give their lives for others." Bishop Martinez said that a "materialistic vision" of man that is based solely on "instinct and the physiological" makes it difficult to see these values as a "gift of God" and an "instrument of service to humanity and to the common good."...

Father Alberto Cutié appeared on CBS this morning to defend his actions and discuss the Catholic Church's celibacy policy. "This is someone who I love," he says.

Celeste Behe’s Register story “Modesty in Motion” quotes Power Ranger actress/model Jessica Rey and Paige Reese of the Cajun band L’Angelus (shown above) about modesty. Paige, says: “I keep in mind that external appearance is a reflection of an interior attitude,” she says. “St. Peter tells us that our adornment ‘should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight’”(1 Peter 3:4). “Many times, mothers have thanked us for dressing in a way that is attractive and modest. They tell us that their daughters want to dress the...

(Note: David MacDonald is a Christian singer/artist who recently revealed that prior to his conversion he had been heavily involved in the gay lifestyle. Read his testimony here: www.GayTestimony.com) I hate to quote statistics, but Canada's largest gay paper XTRA recently reported that, "A group of six Canadian queers is taking on homophobia in Canada's healthcare system by filing a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission." Gens Hellquist, one of the complainants, is the executive director of the Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition. She explained at length her concerns about the health status of homosexual men and women in Canada,...

The item of jewellery owned by Kioni Lansbury represents her intention to stay a virgin until she marries. But her school has deemed it potentially dangerous and against uniform rules. Kioni, who is a regular church-goer, was inspired to wear the ring by the American pop group the Jonas Brothers, who have all made pledges of celibacy. Purity rings are popular in America where organisers have persuaded a vast number of teenagers to abstain from sex. Kioni, of Ottery St Mary in Devon, said: 'Lots of girls sleep around. I want to keep myself pure. 'Many of my friends want...

Feminists around the world have reacted with horror to a new line of lingerie that comes equipped with a GPS tracking system. The 'find me if you can' range of underwear has been described as a modern-day, high-tech chastity belt. 'It is outrageous to think that men can buy this, programme it and give it to their partners and then monitor them,' said Claudia Burghart, leader of a Berlin feminist group. 'It is nothing more than a chastity belt for insecure men.' Lingerie maker Lucia Lorio of Brazil says her design targets the 'modern, techno-savvy woman'.

Friend and fellow blogger Dawn Eden, touring Australia for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the country for World Youth Day, reported on her site on Tuesday that she fell prey to the Down Under version of liberal media bias. "A Current Affair," a program on Sky Television that shares the same name and ilk with the Maury Povich program, interviewed Eden, an author and convert to Catholicism, for a segment they labeled "No Sex Pilgrims" (video available here). The Aussie tabloid television reporters who featured her seemed incredulous that anyone in this day and age would live chastely. ...[C]orrespondent Ben...

News Release OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS 703-413-1100 x5117 and 310-451-6913media@rand.org FOR RELEASE Tuesday June 10, 2008 Virginity Pledges May Help Postpone Intercourse Among Youth Making a virginity pledge may help some young people postpone the start of sexual activity, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Researchers found that adolescents who made pledges to remain virgins until they are married were less likely to be sexually active over the three-year study period than other youth who were similar to them, but who did not make a virginity pledge, according to the study published online by the Journal of Adolescent...

WASHINGTON, November 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) has applauded the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for its new guidelines promoting chastity education in Catholic curricula and urging Catholic colleges to make chastity “the cornerstone of Catholic campus life.” The USCCB announced at the end of their annual meeting in Baltimore this week the introduction of a new chastity education program for helping Catholic schools and other institutions develop curricula. The program, titled, “Catechetical Formation in Chaste Living: Guidelines for Curriculum and Publication Design,” will form the basis of curricula for high school teaching on chastity....

Women get 'virginity fix' NHS operations in Muslim-driven trend By JAMES CHAPMAN 15th November 2007 Women are being given controversial "virginity repair" operations on the NHS, it emerged last night. Taxpayers funded 24 hymen replacement operations between 2005 and 2006, official figures revealed. And increasing numbers of women are paying up to £4,000 in private clinics for the procedure apparently under pressure from future spouses or in-laws who believe they should be virgins on their wedding night. Doctors said most patients are immigrants or British of ethnic origin. The trend has been condemned by critics as a sign of social...

New Study Finds Christian Counseling Effectively Assists Leaving Homosexual Life-Style Study also finds leaving the lifestyle not psychologically harmful By Meg Jalsevac NASHVILLE, September 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new study, entitled the Exodus Project and conducted by two psychologists, has determined that, through "religiously mediated means", it is possible for homosexual individuals to leave their old lifestyle and embrace the heterosexual lifestyle.  The study also determined that, contrary to mainstream scientific thought, the effort to change one's inclinations away from homosexuality does not appear to be psychologically problematic. In the words of the authors themselves, "The study is the...

Guatemala Bishops Reject "Post-Abortion Care" Plan as Doorway to Abortion Ministry initiative would train medical personnel to use suction machines on women in "post-abortion situation" By Elizabeth O'Brien GUATEMALA CITY, August 23, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Yesterday the Bishops Conference of Guatemala rejected a "post-abortion care" initiative by the Ministry of Health, pointing out that it would provide a direct opening towards abortion and other abuses of women, CatholicNewsAgency reports. In a document criticizing the World Health Organization's anti-life policies, the bishops also warned against the Ministry's "care" campaign, saying, "Our Constitution protects human life from the moment of conception." They...

LONDON, July 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A teenage girl lost her legal battle for the right to wear a chastity ring in class after the United Kingdom's High Court ruled the school's ban did not constitute "unlawful interference" with her Christian faith.Lydia Playfoot, 16, had challenged the ban imposed by Millais School in Horsham, saying the ring was an expression of her Christian faith and commitment to abstain from sex until marriage. Playfoot was among a dozen other girls that had worn the chastity rings until the school ordered them to remove them saying that it violated the uniform policy....

Millions of teenagers nationwide, including male university students, have chosen to remain virgins until marriage. In doing so they unflinchingly clash head on with a modern day culture that implicitly condones free love.  A friend of mine was once riding the subway late at night when the doors opened and in stepped two couples returning from a night out on the town. They laughed and carried on until one of the ladies noticed a poster promoting abstinence on the wall behind them. She read it out loud for the others. “Virgin: it’s not a dirty word,” it said. Then half...

Schoolgirl goes to court over chastity ring By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent, and Hazel Southam  Last Updated: 3:52am BST 28/04/2007     A teenage girl banned from wearing a Christian chastity ring at school is taking her case to the High Court.Lydia Playfoot wanted to wear a silver ring that showed her commitment to remain a virgin until marriage. But her school refused permission on health and safety grounds and because the ring infringed its jewellery policy.The dispute echoes last year's row over whether a British Airways employee could wear a cross and that of Shabina Begum, a Muslim excluded...

An American couple going out for two years have enjoyed their first kiss - at their wedding. Katie and Tim McAfee agreed to a sex ban and no kissing before they wed. The couple from Bismarck, North Dakota, are devout Christians. They prayed with their parents for God's strength before going out on dates. Tim, 25, touched his 24-year-old wife's lips for the first time at Bismarck's Evangel Temple. Tim said his kiss with Katie was great but added: "I don't have anything to compare it with." Katie's sister, Margie, 21, and her new husband Nadir Torres, 22 also took...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - It has all the ingredients of a wedding. The proud tuxedo-clad father, the frosted white cake, the limousines and an exchange of vows. But there is no groom and the girl in the long gown is no bride. She's daddy's little girl, there to take a vow of chastity. In what is becoming a trend among conservative Christians in the United States, girls as young as nine are pledging to their fathers to remain virgins until they wed, in elaborate ceremonies dubbed "Purity Balls." The gala affairs are intended to celebrate the father-daughter relationship. The highlight is...

WASHINGTON - Dawn Eden is no shrinking violet. “I’ve got just a tad of the exhibitionist in me,” the former rock journalist turned Catholic convert recently told the National Review Online — and with the launch of her new book, “The Thrill of the Chaste,” Eden does nothing short of baring her soul. “The Thrill of the Chaste” translates Eden’s heart-on-her-sleeve candor into an intimate confessional where nothing is off the table: private sexual fantasies, self-gratification, personal insecurities, various cringe-worthy moments (one involves dressing up like Cher, but not as a prank) and — get ready — “desperately longing for...

A Romanian priest wants women to pay a "white-dress fine" if they're not virgins when they marry. Father Petrica Bratu, 37, says he hopes the fines will stop couples from living in sin. Couples who had just moved in together would pay about $20 but brides who were pregnant or had children would pay about $120. The average Romanian salary is about $200 per month.

The Man Who Stepped Out of LineIn this post-feminist age where men are still learning remedial masculinity, we have a model of manhood lived heroically which we would do well to emulate. In the early twentieth century Poland gave us that manly priest, John Paul II, but also his hero, Maximilian Kolbe, priest, missionary, spiritual father and martyr of brotherly love. St. Maximilian’s feast day is August 14th, the vigil of his beloved Virgin Mary’s Assumption and the day which commemorates the conquest of virile love over the totalitarian creeds of his generation. As men, we could all learn a...

The battle for purity is ultimately fought deep in the recesses of the human heart. Our hearts were made to love, but since the Fall, they have been tainted by a desire to use others. This effect of original sin is seen perhaps most dramatically in our encounters with the opposite sex, wherein our hearts often are drawn to the other person more for the emotional or sensual pleasure we may derive from them than for any true commitment to what is best for them and their true value as a person. In this reflection, we will see that chastity...

A SAINT TO EMULATE Margaret M. Breiling St. Maria Goretti"By the loving providence of God, we have assisted this evening at the supreme exaltation of a humble daughter of the people, in a ceremony whose solemnity and dignity are unique in the history of the Church.For tonight's canonization has been held in this vast and inviting place of mystery, made for the occasion into a sacred temple whose vault is the open heaven that proclaims the glories of Almighty God—a choice for which you first expressed the desire before We had decided to make the disposition.The concourse of the...

Sikh bracelets, but no Christian rings at school bans pupils from wearing 'purity rings' A group of teenage Christians have been banned by a secondary school from wearing "purity rings" as a symbol of their religious belief in chastity until marriage. At least one of the dozen pupils, who all attend the same girls' comprehensive in Horsham, West Sussex, is considering legal action against the Millais School for "a breach of human rights". Although the school allows Muslim and Sikh pupils to wear headscarves or kara bracelets as a means of religious expression, the purity ring - a small band...

Teens fight for a chaste Valentine's ABSTINENCE: Some high school students suggest honoring Feb. 14 as a "Day of Purity. BY STEPHANIE SIMON LOS ANGELES TIMES High school sophomore Ally Hall plans to exchange valentine cards with her friends today. But her true tribute to the romance of the season was Monday, in the principal's office at Lebanon High School in the small town of Lebanon, Ohio. Hall wrote a brief script to be read over the public-address system. Her message: The most romantic way to celebrate Feb. 14 is to honor it as a "Day of Purity," by pledging...

Note: This commentary may not be suitable for young children. This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley. A 25-year-old Christian man e-mailed a friend—a young Christian author named Lauren Winner—and asked her a question. He claimed he had endless opportunities for casual sex—including one that very evening. Why should he not take advantage of them? After all, he said, he was already “dealing with seventeen other things in my Christian walk. Shouldn’t I just focus on learning to pray, and deal with the sex stuff later?” Nice try, buster. Winner, the author of Real Sex: The Naked...

Most sexually active teenage girls know relatively little about sexually transmitted diseases until it is too late, according to new research. In a survey of 300 adolescent girls in the Pittsburgh area, Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that girls who reported having been diagnosed with an STD knew more about that particular disease than other girls, but did not know more about the other diseases. The findings are published in the January edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health. On average, with the exception of HIV/AIDS, the teens did not know many basic facts about STDs, said Julie Downs, lead...

Front Royal, Va, Dec. 06, 2005 (CNA) - "The Church recognizes that people with 'homosexual tendencies' can be good Christians, social workers, and administrators, but being a priest is all of these things and much more,” stated  Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International. His comment came following the release of Concerning the Criteria of Vocational Discernment Regarding Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of their Admission to Seminaries and Holy Orders by the Congregation for Catholic Education."Engaging in homosexual acts is a grave, mortal sin that endangers the immortal soul of the practitioner and such a lifestyle...

by Matt C. Abbott Other Articles by Matt C. Abbott Defending Chastity in the Priesthood 10/04/05 Three Roman Catholic priests have been gracious enough to provide me with their observations (edited) on the recent report that Pope Benedict XVI "has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests." In This Article...Human Nature as God Created ItOrdination Is Not a RightWe Are the Better for It Human Nature as God Created It Father Burns Seeley of the Chicago-based Society of St. John Cantius: "Note that the document (I...

Swaziland's King Mswati III, who imposed a five-year sex ban on the kingdom's teenage girls, has dropped it a year early. The girls have had to wear large woolen tassels as a sign of their chastity since 2001. The sex ban was imposed to fight the spread of HIV/Aids. Swaziland has one of the world's highest HIV infection rates, at almost 40 percent of the population. The king meanwhile fined himself a cow for breaking the ban by marrying again, a 17-year-old who became his ninth wife. (UPI)

Something is going wrong in Christian communities. ... many Christians, even in churches that teach sex is only for marriage, have premarital sex. • Three surveys of single Christian adults [showed that]one third were virgins—meaning, of course, that two thirds were not. • In 2003, researchers at Northern Kentucky University showed that 61 percent of students who signed sexual-abstinence commitment cards broke their pledges. • Of the remaining 49 percent who kept their pledges, 55 percent said they'd had oral sex, and did not consider oral sex to be sex. So what is going on? In combating [unchaste behavior], we...