Married couples should still lead chaste lives if
they want to experience true love, according to a letter from Canadian
Catholic bishops directed at young people.
Quoting Pope John Paul
II, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops says, "Only the chaste
man and the chaste woman are capable of true love."
The eight-page letter was published following a commission on doctrine held in Vancouver.
"Chastity
is a very real challenge, particularly for young people in our country
today. We want to assure those young people who are struggling to live a
life of chastity that their bishops stand prayerfully with them and are
there to support and encourage them," said commission chairman
Archbishop J. Michael Miller.
The document argues today's society
often relates chastity "with being old fashioned, with a fear of passion
or with sexual inhibitions."
The note includes a link to a
23-minute YouTube video with young people reading from the note and
speaking in support of the bishops.
The document includes advice
on chaste living for people in different stages of their lives,
including single people and married couples.
"Despite what the
media and Hollywood suggest, the value of sexual intercourse does not
lie in recreation or physical gratification," the section for married
persons says.
Sex should be unitive and procreative and that's why some kinds of sexual activity are not chaste, it says.
"Though pleasure may be present, some acts are a misuse of sex," it says.