Vow Of Celibacy

Winner of the Bisexual Book Award for Best Novel Natalie has made a promise: a vow of celibacy, signed and witnessed by her best friend. After a string of sexual conquests, she is determined to figure out why the intense romantic connections she's spent her life chasing have left her emotionally high and dry. As Natalie sifts through her past and her present, she confronts her complicated feelings about her plus-sized figure, her bisexuality, and her thwarted career in fashion design. Piecing together toxic relationship patterns from her past, Natalie finds herself strutting down fashion runways and rekindling her passion for clothing design in the present. All the while, her best friend, Anastaze, struggles with her own secret--whether or not to reveal her true identity to the thousands of fans of her popular blog and her potential first sexual partner. Clever, sexy, and hilarious, Vow of Celibacy delves into the perilous terrain of love and relationships, the uncertainty of early adulthood, and the sustaining force of friendship. This is an irresistible novel about the stories we can't help but tell ourselves about others, and it captures in perfect pitch what it's like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.

Richard Sipe examines the continuing sexual crisis facing the Catholic Church today. Has the storm of publicity and controversy caused the church to acknowledge any of the accusations? Will the church accept statistical evidence or alter the way it trains its clergy? How has it come to grips with reforming or retraining abusers? Has it acknowledged the spread of AIDS among its ranks? Why does the church oppress women and react with hostility and fear towards them? Sex, Priests, and Power: Anatomy of a Crisis addresses these and other questions.

"Fr Christian Cochini has made a thorough examination, based on years of extensive research, of the topic of clerical celibacy in the first seven centuries of the Church's history. ...." [from back cover]

What causes people to give up sex? Abbott's provocative and entertaining exploration of celibacy through the ages debunks traditional notions about celibacy--a practice that reveals much about human sexual desires and drives.

Although many Catholics, and certainly most non-Catholics, are unaware of it, the rule of celibacy for Catholic priests is not absolute. The ordination of a married man is exceptionally rare, but it does occur. In most cases it happens as an accommodation for a married priest of another Christian church, almost always Anglican (Episcopalian), who has converted to the Catholic faith and wishes to serve in the Catholic priesthood. The Anglican Pastoral Provision, a set of streamlined canonical policies established by Pope John Paul II in 1980, encouraged the reception of these priest. Since then over a hundred men-most married, most Episcopalian-have been ordained; today there are seventy-five married former Episcopalian priests serving in the U.S. Catholic Church. Based on one hundred fifteen interviews augmented by biographical, survey and historical research,Keeping the Vow tells the story of these married priests and their wives, their unusual and difficult journey from Anglicanism and their life in the Catholic Church. Sullins explores the perspectives of this small group of men and their wives and how they juxtapose a unique set of identities and perspectives. A full-sample national survey provides the views of U.S. bishops on the practice of married priest ordination. The book's extensive use of quotes and personal narrative helps bring these stories to life, while sociological analysis provides a clear view of their collective features and discusses implications for related social and religious issues such as conversion, priesthood, worship, marital roles and celibacy. An engaging study on Catholicism, Anglicanism, American religion, and marriage, Keeping the Vow expands the discussion on the future prospects and effects married priests in the Catholic Church.

Cozzens explores priestly celibacy as a source of power and burden of obligation, as spiritual calling and gift of the Spirit. He affirms celibacy as a charism, a gift that is true for some, but only when received as a grace.