Living the Celibate Life: A Search For Models and Meaning

Addressing a core concern raised by the recent sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, Richard Sipe explores the confusion, conflicts, and imprecision surrounding our current understanding of the meaning of celibacy. As the twenty-first century begins and as the words celibate and celibacy are bandied about from Rome to Dublin to Boston, careful definitions and distinctions need to be drawn in order to deal with the issues involved. Never before has it been so important to analyze the meanin…