Celibacy

What is celibacy? Who in the Catholic Church is required to be celibate?

Celibacy is the state of being unmarried and chaste (that is, not engaging in sexual activity).

In the Catholic Church, the discipline of celibacy is practiced differently in the Latin/Western Church and in the Eastern Churches.

In the Latin Church, priests and bishops must be celibate. One notable except to this rule is a dispensation sometimes granted to married clergy in Protestant denominations who convert to Catholicism.

In most of the Eastern Churches, a man who is married may be ordained a priest; however, after ordination, a man may not marry (or remarry, in the case of widowers). Bishops are chosen from among celibate priests.

Priests, brothers, sisters and other members of religious orders are required to be celibate in both the Eastern and Western Churches.

Style notes:

Celibacy should not be confused with chastity. While only unmarried people can be celibate, both unmarried and married people can be chaste.