V.

The Virtue of Chastity

There are plenty of challenges regarding sexual morality, however, one of the biggest is to
live the virtue of chastity, almost unknown in many parts of society. When talking about
marriage and family life, most people would not expect to hear about chastity, which is – at
most – considered something for priests and religious. There is the prejudice that chastity is
from the middle-ages and has to do with chastising or enslaving the passions. The “modern
man” considers himself free from these enslaving virtues.
This is not the place to develop the important virtue of chastity in detail, however, it
might be surprising to call to mind what the Catechism states in n. 2348: “All the baptized
are called to chastity. The Christian has ‘put on Christ,’ the model for all chastity. All
Christ’s faithful are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states of life. At
the moment of his Baptism, the Christian is pledged to lead his affective life in chastity.” 1
What does it mean and why is this virtue so important for sexual morality. In this lecture an
overview is provided, explaining some of the most basics related to this topic.

1. Definition and Some Basic Considerations

The Catechism of the Catholic Church dedicates several numbers to the virtue of chastity
(please read: CCC, 2337-2345). Chastity can be defined as the moral virtue of self-
mastery, which is the condition to the gift of self and true love; it implies the integration
of body and soul. For that reason, all baptized are called to chastity keeping with their
particular state of life. It is not only reserved for priests and religious, but all baptized are
supposed to practice this virtue.
Chastity refers to the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual dimensions.
Therefore, it is opposed to a disordered life, the consequence of original sin. The vice of
sexual immorality is disordered through the effects of sexual concupiscence, meanwhile
chastity is a virtue permitting to order human freedom correctly.
The role of reason (recta ratio and the ordo rationis) is of great importance. The
encyclical letter Fides et Ratio explains it’s meaning in number 4, stating: “Once reason
successfully intuits and formulates the first universal principles of being and correctly draws
from them conclusions which are coherent both logically and ethically, then it may be called
right reason or, as the ancients called it, orthós logos, recta ratio.”2 This means that “right
reason” consists in ordering sexual behaviour towards what is morally good and right;
respectful of all the human goods that are implied and involved.
Since the virtue of chastity must be oriented according to the recta ratio, this
orientation implies the goods of the spouses and the goods of the children, of fidelity and of
indissolubility, the ends of mutual help and of the remedy for concupiscence, as well as the
essential meanings of the conjugal act and by implication of the conjugal life, the unitive and
the procreative meanings. In other words, and more fundamentally, it implies that the
person(s) and the dignity of the person be respected, that they never be used as objects of
personal pleasure and of sexual gratification. St. Thomas’ concept of right reason as the
criterion for natural moral law does not entail reducing theology to philosophy or of making
reason superior to faith but operates in harmony with the moral implications of Christian
1
CCC, 2348.
2
FR, 4.
1
revelation, implications which are elaborated in a structured way in theology (Please read:
CDF, Instruction Donum Veritatis, nn. 11-12). Thus, chastity, as the virtue, which
moderates and guides the proper way of relating to ourselves and/or to others as sexual human
beings concern not the extent of feelings and of passions as such so much as their proper
‘ordering’ to the goods and other fundamental human goods which fulfil human beings.
In other words, chastity is the virtue through which the recta ratio is put into practice
regarding sexuality.
The role of chastity is important not just in terms of intentionality and of consent
between human beings as to their sexual conduct. Any act of adultery is inevitably immoral,
also as an act of grave injustice against the persons who are married. Any act of prostitution
involves treating oneself and the other as objects to be bought and sold, used, and discarded.
Any act of fornication entails using oneself and another for purposes of sexual gratification,
with the implicit if not always explicit intention of leaving them once they have been used to
satisfy one’s desire to procure sexual gratification thereby. St. Paul explains this in his first
letter to the Corinthians:

’Everything is lawful for me,’ but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is lawful for me,’
but I will not let myself be dominated by anything. ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for
food,’ but God will do away with both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for
immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also
raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then
take Christ's members and make them the members of a prostitute? Of course not! (Or) do you
not know that anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For ‘the
two,‘ it says, ‘will become one flesh.‘ But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit
with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the
immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you
have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body (Please read: 1 Cor
6:12-20).

St. Paul makes clear that there is a distinction between food and the stomach on the one hand
which will pass away and the body (soma) on the other hand, which is for the Lord, for the
resurrection, the place of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The body is not merely
instrumental and therefore indifferent (no dualism) but constitutes part of who the person is
and is destined to share in the eternal life of heaven in the resurrection.
This task of integration occurs through the voluntary acts (actus humanus) of
chastity by means of which this virtue is developed. They involve directing our God-given
instincts and impulses towards those goals or ends to which they were and are properly
directed, namely by way of morally upright acts. This is not at all repressive as some people
say, it implies withholding ourselves from what is immoral and damaging to ourselves and/ or
to others, not allowing ourselves to become dominated by disordered desires and disordered
passions.
The authentic truth of full sexual expression through intimate genital acts can occur
only between spouses married to each other since only they can give and receive each other
completely. Partially, this was already explained above; however, since any dualism must be
avoided it has to be reaffirmed that the body has a special meaning and importance and needs
to be integrated into the wholistic ordering of the human person. Whatever is disordered is not
in harmony, this is what the Church calls “sin”.
The risk of giving way to the temptation of concupiscence (disordering) in these and in
other ways is real, especially if fed by images or descriptions of such activity through
pornography. We might consider this aspect; later on, however, it has been proven that
2
pornography has devastating effects on the family and marriage. In this case, it might be
enough to rely on some studies done by David Alexander Scott, Pornography Its Effects on
the Family, Community, and Culture, Washington, DC 1995. Some of his results are also
published by the United Families International.
Pornography aims to arouse sexual desire and therefore promotes disordered
actions, (because of being separated from the soul and corresponding to a dualistic view of
man). There are some serious studies of research which illustrate that pornography causes,
among other things:

 “Pornography has the propensity to deaden husbands’ attraction for their wives. The
result is often heartache, alienation, and divorce.
 Pornography is a perpetrator of family breakdown.
 Pornography demeans its participants. It is a form of prostitution, and porn subjects
are frequently the victims of molestation, rape, coercion, and blackmail.
 Pornography corrupts children and robs them of their innocence. Children have
been raped and murdered by the producers of pornography.
 Organized crime is heavily involved in pornography, and crime rates are much higher
in the neighbourhoods where pornography is available.
 Pornography takes billions of dollars out of economies that could be much better spent
on the needs of families.
 Pornography is not a benign phenomenon; it leaves a clearly discernible trail of
victims.”3
 […]
 Pornography acts as a harmful “drug.” Physiologically, viewing pornography
commonly triggers internal, endogenous drug production. An image in a person’s head
acts as an electrical signal for no more than a few seconds can leave a trace that will
last for years.
 Pornography distorts a healthy understanding of human sexuality.
 Pornography is pervasive, and no one is beyond its reach. One does not have to look
for pornography; it will find you.
 Driven by greed and a disregard for families and consumers, businesses continually
seek to expand pornography’s reach by creating new markets.
 Pornography contributes to the rising tide of sex trafficking

Giving way to the temptation to satisfy the mere urges of the flesh alone or with someone else
is disordered with all its consequences. It often leads to divorce because it dampens a healthy
sexual interest; it changes the relationship entirely, from an interpersonal relationship to a
disconnected fantasy, which is based on egoistic motives which have been proven destructive
for families.
Chastity is the virtue by means of which these disordered urges, in their sexual
manifestations, are to be challenged and re-directed or orientated, so that they may be
lived out in a way that is not immoral. In the case of sexual relationships, this concerns also
recognizing a person as a person, neither reducing them either to an object of mere sexual
gratification nor reducing the person to certain aspects of who they are in their totality, as
would happen, were someone to consider another only under certain features, idealizing them;
– this is actually what the mass media does continuously, and is particularly true in
3
United Families International, The Harms of Pornography, 2008, in https://www.unitedfamilies.org/issues-and-
answers/guides-to-family-issues/the-harms-of-pornography/ [28.4.2021].
3
pornography, wives with an imperfect body have to compete with the “forever young women”
in the video.
Then usually significant elements of their personality or behaviour are overlooked and
ignored, such as excessive alcohol consumption, aggressiveness, major financial and other
irresponsibility or, – from the positive perspective –not appreciating their other dimensions, as
when they are reduced to being a means for mere sexual gratification or for the attainment
(desire) of some further goal. In any authentic relationship of love the person is valued as a
person, for who they are and not merely for some feature of their personality. Only when this
occurs, there can be genuine mutual self-giving, finding oneself in a true gift of self, as
described in GS, n. 24:

For having been created in the image of God, Who ‘from one man has created the whole
human race and made them live all over the face of the earth’ (Acts 17:26), all men are called
to one and the same goal, namely God Himself. For this reason, love for God and neighbour is
the first and greatest commandment. Sacred Scripture, however, teaches us that the love of
God cannot be separated from love of neighbour: ‘If there is any other commandment, it is
summed up in this saying: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.... Love therefore is the
fulfillment of the Law’ (Rom. 13:9-10; cf. 1 John 4:20).4

Something similar is confirmed in GS n. 49 and in John Paul’s Apostolic Exhortation

Familiaris consortio (Please read Familiaris consortio n. 32-33 = Integral Vision of the
Human Person …). The document calls the virtue of chastity an absolute necessity and states:
“In the Christian view, chastity by no means signifies rejection of human sexuality or lack of
esteem for it: rather it signifies spiritual energy [spiritale robur] capable of defending love
from the perils of selfishness and aggressiveness, and able to advance it towards its full
realization.”5
Chastity is opposed to vice; it is opposed to the tendency to treat oneself or the other as
a sexual object. Without this, there can be no true gift of self because we cannot give
what we do not really possess. Related to the virtue of chastity are modesty and a sense of
shame since these realities help to order reason. The Catechism considers the cardinal virtue
of temperance a synonym for chastity, “which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of
the senses with reason.”6 Chastity is necessary to direct our senses properly to what we touch
or to what we perceive, including books or material we read or what we choose to seek out or
to look at. We need to recognize that the virtue of chastity is not impossible; some people
think it cannot be attained because it is difficult and so demanding. Living in a way in which
we learn to treat ourselves and others never as mere objects of sexual gratification, but as
persons does develop this virtue in us. It does not mean that we repress or ignore sexual
impulses, but they are integrated into the right way of relating to others sexually.
In the case of someone who is not yet married, in someone who is no longer living a
married life, or in someone who cannot express their love for their spouse through genital acts
because of reasons of physical or mental health, the virtue of chastity implies perfect
continence unless and until they should be married or until those who are married may
engage properly in the acts proper to marriage once more. This reflects also the fact that
genital acts are not necessary for the survival of individual human beings, unlike the stomach
and the food which needs to enter it regularly if the person is to survive and to grow (cf. 1 Cor
6, 12-20). Moreover, were a person, even if married, to be constrained to engage in sexually
intimate acts through the force of the impulse and passion which may incline them thereto
4
GS, 24.
5
FC, 33.
6
CCC, 2341.
4
outside of the proper context of marriage or even in marriage in a way that were morally
irresponsible and hence sinful, then there could be no true self-giving and receiving (GS, n.
49), which are essential to any authentic conjugal act, since no-one can truly give themselves
in a human way (actus humanus – s.a.) if they are not in sufficient possession of themselves,
if they are slaves to their passions (nemo dat quod non est).

2. Temperance and Chastity

From St. Thomas we learn that virtues are of their nature directed to the attainment of
what is truly good. In harmony with what he writes also about the natural moral law, this
means that it is in harmony with the order of reason (ordo rationis); thus, it does not arise of
itself without the will, without our deliberate pursuit of the good to which it is directed. This
means that the good is also fulfilling of us as persons, such that virtuous living cannot ever
damage us, but can only contribute to our genuine fulfilment as human beings and in harmony
with God’s will for us (Please read: Summa theologiae, II-II, q. 141 a. 1 on temperance).
The desires which we find in nature, incline us towards that which is good for us, which
concerns are true fulfilment, to those things which are conducive to these goals and so in
accordance with the order of reason (secundum rationem); where there is a question of
temperance, which would withdraw us from certain pleasures, this is always and only
where these would be contrary to reason (contra rationem), but not contrary to nature (contra
naturam - Ibid., q. 141, a. 1 ad 1). Temperance is not contrary to nature but helps us to avoid
what is contrary to merely animal nature or to what is not subject to right reason (Ibid.).
Thomas sees the gift of the Holy Spirit, the fear of the Lord, whose primary object is the
virtue of hope, connected to temperance, such fear of the Lord in the case of temperance
enabling to avoid what might seduce us from our authentic good (Ibid., ad 3). Whereas
fortitude is to strengthen us against deviating from what is good through fear, temperance (in
modern times referred to as moderation) gives us the capacity to moderate our passions
and desires in accordance with reason (Ibid., 141, a. 4 ad 4).
St. Thomas distinguishes between those pleasures of touch which are concerned with
our survival, as individuals (food and drink) or as a species, where certain essential pleasures
are attached by nature to incline us as individuals or as a species to seek and to pursue such
goods or, as he puts it, which concern their “very use” as such. Secondarily, there is what
makes the use of these desires “more pleasurable”, such as taste in food or drink and such as
beauty in a woman (Ibid., q. 141, a 5). Temperance, of which chastity is part, directs us to
what is our true end and good. It constitutes a rule of reason directing us to that end. St.
Thomas is convinced that all things that bring us pleasure are fundamentally there to help us
to perceive and to pursue what is good for us (i.e., they are not repressive). Thus “temperance
takes the needs of this life and as the rule of the pleasurable objects of touch of which it
makes use and uses them only for as much as the need of this life requires” (Ibid, q. 141, a. 6).
Following Aristotle, he argues that temperance means using whatever is necessary for
preserving the good, in an appropriate way; whatever we use is subordinate to this end. Thus,
anything else, sins and vices, will be rejected by temperance either because it does not help to
preserve life or health or its use will be moderated by temperance, such that it will be used in
the right way and to the right extent (Ibid., q. 141, a. 6, ad 1-2).
According to Aristotle, a child does not listen to the voice of reason and so
concupiscence is unrestrained, as long as it remains uncontested there will be a growth in vice
and, since a child needs to be corrected with the rod (Prov. 23, 23-24), says Augustine, such
correction, in this case, needs to be affected by a break with concupiscence through the
5
focusing of the mind on spiritual realities (Ibid., q. 142, a. 2). St. Thomas judges that the sins
of pleasure are the most disgraceful precisely because they tend to enslave more easily
and so to go further and more easily against reason (contra rationem, Ibid., q. 142, a. 4).
The further distinction made by St. Thomas, pertaining directly to offenses against
chastity is that, as with all sins, these will always be contrary to reason (contra rationem),
but some sins will at least remain within what is in accordance with nature (secundum
naturam), such as fornication and adultery, whereas others will be even more seriously wrong
insofar as they go not only against reason but are also contrary to nature (contra naturam),
such as masturbation where there is not even any partner, homosexual acts, where it is with
the wrong sex, and bestiality, where it is with the wrong species (Ibid., q. 154 a. 11-12). The
virtue of temperance is that cardinal virtue, which concerns moderating our behaviour
in the enjoyment of pleasure, for our survival and health as individuals through abstinence
and for our survival as a species through chastity, that we act only according to nature and
that we act in such a way that we make use of these desires and of the associated pleasures to
the extent that is right and proper. Thus, temperance, and for us in this course chastity in
particular, will enable us to live in a harmonious way, deliberately pursuing those goods or
ends to which our passions are properly directed, in a way that is authentically fulfilling of us
and of others, according to the plan of God. This occurs through the integrating of the
passions concerned into a morally good life, which is thus both perfecting of us and happy.

3. John Paul II on Chastity

The ‘redemption of the body’ in Christ and the assistance of grace make it possible for human
beings to live their sexuality properly despite these menaces. It is here that the virtue of
chastity regains its importance and value, sustained as it is by God’s grace in the baptized.
This is important because it confirms the possibility of moral growth and of morally good or
virtuous living even though our human nature has been damaged by sin and is undermined by
the concupiscence, which is its effect. However, this is made possible by God’s grace, a grace
that neither operates against our will nor without our deliberate cooperation and hence
requires the constant collaboration of conscience and of our committed efforts to live in
accordance with its proper (or rightly ordered) demands. Then and only then the original
purposes of sexuality and of chastity are respected and it becomes possible for us to live
virtuously and so more easily and happily in harmony both with the original, un-distorted
good of nature and with the order of reason.
In terms of John Paul’s theology of the body, the various dimensions of our reality as
human beings are then properly and authentically ‘integrated’ into such a way of living as
sexual human beings. The implications of such an integrated or chaste way of life are that the
goods of sexuality are respected. In marriage, this will mean the good of procreation and of
education of children in the broad sense, of fidelity, of indissolubility, as well as the mutual
help and service of the spouses and of their good precisely as persons and as spouses in a way
which unites them more and more in a specific marital communion of persons. It will also
involve properly directing sexual impulses and passions so that these are integrated into a
fully personal pursuit of these various goods, ends, and meanings.
For those who are not (yet) married, these responsibilities implied in the theology of
the body, in the virtue of chastity, and in their personal vocation call for the development. It
must entail respect for themselves and for others in the way they inter-relate as sexual human
beings, the general love of our neighbour, and the love of friendship in more specific cases,
within the family and beyond it. If the person has a vocation to celibacy for the sake of the
6
kingdom of God and/or to consecrated chastity, then these responsibilities imply and require
perfect continence, since any genital expression of sexuality would be incompatible with the
renunciation of such intimacy for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.
In cases where someone has no such vocation but may believe they should marry
eventually or if they should remain single, they are obliged to perfect continence unless and
until they are in fact married.
In all these cases, when there is a vocation to priestly celibacy or to consecrated
chastity and even if there were not such a vocation, genital acts – even if this were to involve
another person and even if it concerned two consenting adults – objectively treat oneself (and
the other) as objects for the sake of procuring such pleasure, reducing them to the level of
means for the attainment of that end. Where another person is concerned, such acts always
involve the deliberate or implicit readiness to leave or discard that other person immediately,
fairly soon, or if things should not work out as the first person wishes. That is inherently
degrading of the other person and of oneself; it is intrinsically and gravely immoral.
John Paul II addressed on several occasions the topic “chastity”. During an “Angelus”
on July 6 2003, the 100th anniversary of the death of St. Maria Goretti, the martyr of purity, he
confirmed that her message and her testimony of life are of great actuality. He said: “Today,
pleasure, selfishness, and directly immoral actions are often exalted in the name of the false
ideals of liberty and happiness. It is essential to reaffirm clearly that purity of heart and of
body go together, because chastity ‘is the custodian’ of authentic love.” He added: “Purity
of heart, as with every virtue, requires a daily discipline of the will and a constant interior
discipline. Above all, it calls for assiduous recourse to God in prayer.”7

4. Chastity and Some Practical Aspects

There is another aspect closely related to chastity, which needs to be addressed. The so-called
“dress code” is another delicate topic. Whenever it is addressed, the accusation is made of
being rigid or old fashioned”, “out of touch”, etc. However, if chastity is the moral virtue of
self-mastery, it needs to find expression in the way someone behaves, including the way of
dressing. Just as the virtue of chastity has lost its meaning in modern culture, so has modesty
and reverence lost its meaning. This is reflected in the way people dress, often opposed to
chastity.
However, this is not the place to address this aspect in much detail, but some aspects
have to be addressed. In particular, women now tend to dress inappropriately, sometimes they
do not even notice that the way they dress is inappropriate. They just follow the mainstream,
highly influenced by Hollywood and the main-stream media. Sometimes, even religious dress
in an inappropriate way. But what is appropriate? Let us try to approach this topic
systematically.
The virtue of self-mastery needs to be reflected in the way we dress because
otherwise, someone might – through the way of dressing – be an occasion to sin. This is of
special importance for spouses and young girls. Let us suppose there is a beautiful woman,
who dresses in a way that all her “forms” are clearly visible. The eyes of all would be on
her and this would cause certain effects, which are well researched today.
These scientific studies show that often when a man – it does not have to be only the
boyfriend or the husband – who sees such a woman is exposed to pleasantly-charged
emotions that causes the deactivation of the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain is
7
John Paul II, Angelus, 6.7.2003, in http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/angelus/2003/documents/
hf_jp-ii_ang_20030706.html [2.5.2021].
7
“engaged in emotional recognition and processing as well as multiple functions such as attention,
planning of motor act, and cognitive function.” 8 To simplify this process, parts of the brain are
turned off, those parts which are associated with the person's thoughts, intentions, and feelings. In
this situation, people start reacting as if they were not fully human. They consider that person
rather as an object (of pleasure) than a person; this reaction is sometimes far from being a full
conscious actus humanus. The lack of activation of this part of the brain is described as
“dehumanizing”.
Even though these effects are well known, shedding light on the issue of a dress code and
the consequences of pornography, however, it is very difficult to address these issues. National
Geographic has published a brain-scan study, in the moment when men got to see pictures of sexy
women in bikini:

Men were also more likely to associate images of sexualized women with first-person action
verbs such as “I push, I grasp, I handle,” said lead researcher Susan Fiske, a psychologist at
Princeton University. And in a “shocking” finding, Fiske noted, some of the men studied
showed no activity in the part of the brain that usually responds when a person ponders
another's intentions. This means that these men see women "as sexually inviting, but they are
not thinking about their minds,” Fiske said. “The lack of activation in this social cognition
area is really odd, because it hardly ever happens.”9

Similar effects might be achieved by women dressed in hot pants, skinny-jeans, mini-skirt,
tight-leggings, quite common in today’s society. There is an urgent need to change all this, to
change this culture, in which people are treated as objects and who present themselves as
objects. The virtue of chastity needs to be recovered.
This is not the moment to explain the origins of the bikini, designed by the Frenchman
Louis Réard in 1946. In the beginning, not even runway models wanted to wear it and so he
had to hire a nude dancer. However, that whoever dresses in a bikini is acting strongly against
the virtue of chastity can be explained also from another perspective.
There is a helpful video, which we cannot see in this online class, which explains the
importance of dressing modestly at the beach. 10 Imagine the case that the parents of a girl of
the age of 16-18 are playing cards (poker or so) together with several friends of the age
between 40-50. In this situation probably no young girl would show up dressed in underwear.
This would be embarrassing. However, when a young lady wears a bikini at the beach, this is
exactly what happens, causing the effects above described. The problem is that even married
women like to dress in such a way they want to be noticed (by their husbands). According to
what was described above, the effect is quite different regarding her husband and the other
men around. Why does she want to be noticed in such a way? For her sexual attributes or for
who she is? Women want to be attractive, but what type of attraction should this be?
It becomes clear that if someone dresses modestly, he/she attracts good people, who
are not primarily attracted by the sexual attributes, but by the whole person. As a general rule
modesty has to be applied especially regarding the dress-code. St. Thomas Aquinas affirms
that purity needs to be observed also in the exterior signs, “such as impure looks, kisses and
touches. And since the latter are more wont to be observed, purity regards rather these
external signs, while chastity regards rather sexual union. Therefore, purity is directed to
chastity, not as a virtue distinct therefrom, but as expressing a circumstance of chastity.

8
Kanji Matsukawa et al., “Deactivation of the prefrontal cortex during exposure to pleasantly-charged emotional
challenge,” 22.9.2018, in https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32752-0.pdf [4.5.2021].
9
Christine dell’Amore, Bikinis Make Men See Women as Objects, Scans Confirm, 16.2.2009, in
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2009/02/bikinis-women-men-objects-science/ [4.5.2021].
10
Cf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g-n_XOyJA0
8
Nevertheless, the one is sometimes used to designate the other.” 11 (please read: STh, II-II, q.
151, a.4.)
Being dressed in an improper way can cause others to sin. This is described in the
Gospel of St. Matthew, and which needs to be read especially in the context of what was said
so far: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his
heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna” (Mt 5:27-29).
In this regard, another clarification needs to be made. You all know that any moral evaluation
depends on the three sources of morality, which form part of the classical moral theology.
Therefore, three things are necessary for the evaluation of a moral action, the so-called:

1. The intention of the acting subject

2. The object of the action
3. And the circumstances.

To call to mind these three criteria is so important because there is a lot of ignorance in this
field. There are people, sometimes even theologians who consider it “okay” if young ladies
dress in such a way. But even if they would not have the intention to cause sin, nevertheless,
the object of the action is to create an occasion of sin for others, as we have seen above. The
equation bonum ex integra causa, malum ex quocumque defectu (an action is good when it is
good in every respect; it is bad when it is defective in every respect )12 must be applied for the
moral evaluation. Since the object of the action is bad, the whole action is immoral.
Sometimes even husbands want their wives to dress in this way, but often they are not aware
of the consequences. The dignity of the human person requires modesty. For these reasons,
Saint Louis de Montfort held the opinion that women, who dress in a way to give scandal (to
present an occasion to sin) will have to make up for it in purgatory.
There is a saying, which affirms that in proportion to the amount of flesh shown in
public mortal sin increases. Assuming this, one would expect that married women and
Catholic unmarried girls would always dress with modesty following a certain dress-code. Is
true that women are not always aware of this, of their responsibility that they might lead
others into sin, causing temptations to the opposite sex. It is not only the “dirty mind” of the
men responsible but also the way how someone dresses.
Therefore, the clothes of Catholic women and girls can be attractive but should tend to
conceal rather than to reveal or call attention to the body. In the past 50 years, the trend was
manifestly opposed to this criterion. Gradually there were shortenings of garments and slight
revelations of bare flesh and then subtle little displays of the figure; protests died down, so
then more and more shortenings and displays were made until the crude immodesty of our day
became a shocking reality. Several Popes have addressed these aspects, even though not
recently. Pope Benedict XV wrote in his Encyclical Letter Sacra Propediem from 1921:

From this point of view one cannot sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of
every age and condition; made foolish by desire to please, they do not see to what a degree
they in decency of their clothing shocks every honest man, and offends God. Most of them
would formerly have blushed for those toilettes as for a grave fault against Christian modesty;
now it does not suffice for them to exhibit them on the public thoroughfares; they do not fear
to cross the threshold of the churches, to assist at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, and even to
bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table where one receives the
11
STh, II-II, q. 151, a.4.
12
STh, I-II, q. 19 a.6.
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 heavenly Author of purity. And We speak not of those exotic and barbarous dances recently
imported into fashionable circles, one more shocking than the other; one cannot imagine
anything more suitable for banishing all the remains of modesty. 13

Pope Benedict XV addressed this topic in 1921, it is of great actuality and relevance for
today. His successor Pope Pius XI added some more concrete aspects, affirming in his
encyclical letter Miserentissimus Redemptor from 1928:

Moreover, among the faithful there is a greatly increasing carelessness of ecclesiastical

discipline, and of those ancient institutions on which all Christian life rests, by which domestic
society is governed, and the sanctity of marriage is safeguarded; the education of children is
altogether neglected, or else it is depraved by too indulgent blandishments, and the Church is
even robbed of the power of giving the young a Christian education; there is a sad
forgetfulness of Christian modesty especially in the life and the dress of women; there is
an unbridled cupidity of transitory things, a want of moderation in civic affairs, an unbounded
ambition of popular favour, a depreciation of legitimate authority, and lastly a contempt for
the word of God, whereby faith itself is injured, or is brought into proximate peril. 14

Especially regarding his practical advice – he explained in practical ways how a woman
should be dressed, how long the dresses are supposed to be, etc. – his considerations are often
misunderstood today because most people are caught up in a worldly way of thinking.
However, the approach towards modesty must respect sound anthropology. Without original
sin, it wouldn’t be a problem if a woman would dress in a bikini; a man seeing her would
thank God for the beauty of the woman and praise Him. But since we are all weakened by
original sin, the situation is now reversed. The effects of an “offensive way of dressing” are
similar to the effects of pornography.
The Christian way of living does not depend on the changing customs of a time period
but follows modesty. Neither honesty nor modesty are a matter of custom. History repeats; it
is a matter of fact that many great nations collapsed because of their moral degeneracy. It is
said that vice necessarily follows upon public nudity. For that reason, the following general
guideline should be respected: General guideline:
Clothes should hide the shape of the body rather than accentuate it. This is what
can be called “decent” clothing. This rule automatically excludes many forms of dress in
which women are dressed today. The woman’s knees should be covered when she is seated.
Especially mothers must give an example to their daughters, teaching them the virtue of
modesty. There is a saying that a woman, by her vanity, will make a man fall; by her modesty,
she will save him. The world of morality oscillates between Eve and Mary. Pope Pius XII
wrote in his encyclical letter Sacra Virginitas from 1954:

The educators of the young clergy would render a more valuable and useful service, if
they would inculcate in youthful minds the precepts of Christian modesty, which is so
important for the preservation of perfect chastity and which is truly called the prudence of
chastity. For modesty foresees threatening danger, forbids us to expose ourselves to risks,
demands the avoidance of those occasions which the imprudent do not shun. It does not like
impure or loose talk, it shrinks from the slightest immodesty, it carefully avoids suspect
familiarity with persons of the other sex, since it brings the soul to show due reverence to the
13
Benedict XV, Encyclical Letter Sacra Propediem, 6.1.1921, in
http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xv/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xv_enc_06011921_sacra-
propediem.html [6.5.2021] 19.
14
Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Miserentissimus Redemptor, 8.5.1928, in
https://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19280508_miserentissimus-
redemptor.html [6.5.2021] 16.
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 body, as being a member of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. He who possesses the
treasure of Christian modesty abominates every sin of impurity and instantly flees whenever
he is tempted by its seductions.15

A proper dress code is a tremendous challenge today, closely related to the virtue of chastity
and modesty. Two principles are helpful to be observed: 1) care must be taken not to
make chastity difficult for others by one’s own dress, supposing that original sin exists;
2) a firm and courageous resistance to customs and styles is required – no matter how
widespread they are – which are a danger to chastity. A woman, who deliberately draws
attention to her sexual attributes obscures her value as a person. Karol Wojtyla wrote in his
book Love and Responsibility:

A woman wants to be loved so that she can show love. A man wants to be loved so that he can
be loved. In either case sexual modesty is not a flight from love, but on the contrary the
opening of a way towards it. The spontaneous need to conceal mere sexual values bound up
with the person is the natural way to the discovery of the value of the person as such. 16

Even though the “Pope of the Family” addressed this topic in his book, written before he
became pope, he did not address this topic in the Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris consortio.
It seems that there is a lot of pressure against his teachings, because of the powerful mass
media, promoting an agenda strongly opposed to modesty. However, the post-synodal
apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia does mention this topic in n. 282 (Please read):

A sexual education that fosters a healthy sense of modesty has immense value, however much
some people nowadays consider modesty a relic of a bygone era. Modesty is a natural means
whereby we defend our personal privacy and prevent ourselves from being turned into
objects to be used. Without a sense of modesty, affection and sexuality can be reduced to an
obsession with genitality and unhealthy behaviors that distort our capacity for love, and with
forms of sexual violence that lead to inhuman treatment or cause hurt to others. 17

This is the only time the pope mentioned modesty within 325 numbers, addressing the
pastoral care of families.
Concluding this part, it must be affirmed that a new consciousness is necessary and
needs to be promoted, which respects human nature. The question “How far is too far” (with
regard to a priest, woman, husband, etc.) is already the wrong question. The right question is:
“How can I get that person to heaven? It is not how much can I use that person.
This starts already in the way how we look at each other. This is described in the
Gospel of Matthew: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I
say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her
in his heart” (Mt 5,27-28). We need to change the mindset. Chastity implies to avoid what
might provoke others, we are supposed to live in the presence of God.
There is an important difference between “using” and “loving” someone. Affection
and signs of affection might be good but anything that causes arousal is reserved for marriage.
In today’s culture, this is considered “rigid”, however, it is prudent and respects the fallen
human nature. Any case of abuse starts with the details and thoughts (temptations). Then
followed by deeds, touching, signs of affection, etc. We need to learn to protect our heart,

15
Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Sacra Virginitas, 25.3.1954, in
http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_25031954_sacra-virginitas.html
[6.5.2021] 58.
16
Karol Woytily, Love and Responsibility, 179.
17
Francis, Encyclical letter Amoris laetitia, n. 282
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mind, and soul. It is so easy to be betrayed and to betray, for that reason, the virtue of chastity
is of great importance and – as every virtue – needs to be practiced even through abnegation
and mortification.

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