--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That clerical celibacy doesn't guarantee…" description: "\"That clerical celibacy doesn't guarantee asceticism is obvious, any more than attending Mass guarantees prayerfulness (trust me on that one). But it pr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/ross-douthat-2949_celibacy_that-clerical-celibacy-doesn-t-guarantee_1048465.png" --- # That clerical celibacy doesn't guarantee asceticism is… ![“That clerical celibacy doesn't guarantee asceticism is obvious, any more than attending Mass guarantees prayerfulness (trust me on that one). But it preserves the call even when the system is corrupted.” quote by Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/ross-douthat-2949_celibacy_that-clerical-celibacy-doesn-t-guarantee_1048465.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/ross-douthat-2949_celibacy_that-clerical-celibacy-doesn-t-guarantee_1048465.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/ross-douthat-2949_celibacy_that-clerical-celibacy-doesn-t-guarantee_1048465.png) > “That clerical celibacy doesn't guarantee asceticism is obvious, any more than attending Mass guarantees prayerfulness (trust me on that one). But it preserves the call even when the system is corrupted.” [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Celibacy does not automatically produce ascetic virtue; institutional vows can persist even when the surrounding system is corrupt. **In simple terms:** Celibacy ≠ holiness; corruption can persist. Key Takeaway Don't assume vows guarantee virtue. Themes religion celibacy asceticism corruption institution Mood critical analytical Type sociological ethical When to use this quote - clergy life - religious reform - personal discipline Key Concepts institutional critique moral psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why do institutions maintain vows? - How can personal integrity be fostered beyond formal vows? A Different Perspective Vows may be superficial without inner conviction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asceticism Obvious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asceticism-obvious-2492674/) [Celibacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/celibacy/) [Celibacy Doesn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/celibacy-doesn-2492672/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Clerical Celibacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clerical-celibacy-2492671/) [Even](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/even/) [Guarantee Asceticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guarantee-asceticism-2492673/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Obvious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obvious/) [System](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/system/) [Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust/) ## Related quotes > [Celibacy doesn't make you enlightened, otherwise every nun or priest in Buddhism or Christianity would be enlightened. People who don't date and can't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/celibacy-doesn-t-make-you-enlightened-otherwise-every-nun-or-priest/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The church may hold whatever it holds with regard to clerical celibacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-p-leahy/the-church-may-hold-whatever-it-holds-with-regard-to-clerical-celibacy/) [William P. Leahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-leahy/) > [“as Barbara Tuchman, author of Distant Mirror, put it, “clerical celibacy was a joke.” Despite the previous ban on clerical marriages, nuns, monks, cardinals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/as-barbara-tuchman-author-of-distant-mirror-put-it-clerical-celibacy/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Celibacy used to offend family-values conservatism; now it offends equally against the opposite spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/celibacy-used-to-offend-family-values-conservatism-now-it-offends/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“Fr. Benedict Groeschel says it in his uniquely northern New Jersey way: “Celibacy means that we belong exclusively to the Lord, from our brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-m-dolan-cardinal/fr-benedict-groeschel-says-it-in-his-uniquely-northern-new-jersey-way/) [Timothy M Dolan Cardinal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-m-dolan-cardinal/) > [In the name of celibacy, sex has been repressed for centuries and you have become just full of sexuality. Rather than transcending it you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/in-the-name-of-celibacy-sex-has-been-repressed-for-centuries-and-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“Not just the celibacy thing but because he has God’s ear, a line on the mysteries. That’s impressive to girls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-elkin/not-just-the-celibacy-thing-but-because-he-has-god-s-ear-a-line-on/) [Stanley Elkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-elkin/) > [It is impossible to believe that the same God who permitted His own son to die a bachelor regards celibacy as an actual sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-impossible-to-believe-that-the-same-god-who-permitted-his-own/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Yes, hypothetically, western Catholicism could revise the theme of celibacy. ... But for the moment, I am in favor of maintaining celibacy, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/yes-hypothetically-western-catholicism-could-revise-the-theme-of/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“Sheel (the highest state of conduct in worldly interaction) is where not even an iota of a wrong intent arises within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/sheel-the-highest-state-of-conduct-in-worldly-interaction-is-where/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“Masturbation is not the happiest form of sexuality, but the most advisable for him who wants to be alone and think. I detect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/masturbation-is-not-the-happiest-form-of-sexuality-but-the-most/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Celibacy is the worst form of self-abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/celibacy-is-the-worst-form-of-self-abuse/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [“This worldly life is very difficult. Mother-in-law comes, mother of the mother-in-law comes, sister of mother-in-law comes, aunt of mother-in-law comes. How many mother-in-laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/this-worldly-life-is-very-difficult-mother-in-law-comes-mother-of-the/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“I will tell you this only once. Homosexuals have been among the best warriors in our history, the berserkers of last resort. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-will-tell-you-this-only-once-homosexuals-have-been-among-the-best/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) ## More by Ross Douthat > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [The American intelligentsia has been pretty secular for a long time. There have always been figures like Oprah Winfrey, let's put it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-american-intelligentsia-has-been-pretty-secular-for-a-long-time/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [On the evidence we have, the meritocratic ideal ends up being just as undemocratic as the old emphasis on inheritance and tradition, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/on-the-evidence-we-have-the-meritocratic-ideal-ends-up-being-just-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“The physical vanity of the diet-and-exercise obsessive is recast as the pursuit of a kind of ritual purity, hedged about with taboos and guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-physical-vanity-of-the-diet-and-exercise-obsessive-is-recast-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [There were times at Harvard when I actually longed to hang out with a few more Trotskyists, rather than yet another set of future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/there-were-times-at-harvard-when-i-actually-longed-to-hang-out-with-a/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Many things about American life, that even secular people consider good, have flowed from the presence of a robust, resilient institutional Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/many-things-about-american-life-that-even-secular-people-consider/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“What he felt during his Spanish encounter with left-wing anti-Christianity was similar to his reactions to the anti-Christianity of the right. The "novelty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/what-he-felt-during-his-spanish-encounter-with-left-wing-anti/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“In an age of stagnant or declining birthrates, too, these communities’ willingness to heed the admonition to be fruitful and multiply has led to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/in-an-age-of-stagnant-or-declining-birthrates-too-these-communities/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [America's problem isn't too much religion or too little of it. It's bad religion: the slow-motion collapse of traditional Christianity and the rise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/america-s-problem-isn-t-too-much-religion-or-too-little-of-it-it-s/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [I do think you can see, throughout American history, this temptation, and it's both a liberal and a conservative temptation, to take a healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-do-think-you-can-see-throughout-american-history-this-temptation/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Where conservative Catholics have the power to resist what seem like false ideas or disastrous innovations they must do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/where-conservative-catholics-have-the-power-to-resist-what-seem-like/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [It is not white nationalism to believe that countries like the United States would be better off with more babies. That belief can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/it-is-not-white-nationalism-to-believe-that-countries-like-the-united/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Most people want the convenience of the Internet far more than they want the private spaces that older forms of communication protected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/most-people-want-the-convenience-of-the-internet-far-more-than-they/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [If you live under a system that claims to have high ideals but seems ineradicably opposed to your own people's flourishing, the desire for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/if-you-live-under-a-system-that-claims-to-have-high-ideals-but-seems/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Our crisis of the house divided was a Christian civil war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/our-crisis-of-the-house-divided-was-a-christian-civil-war/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Explore all 144 Ross Douthat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) ## More Celibacy quotes > [“I will tell you this only once. Homosexuals have been among the best warriors in our history, the berserkers of last resort. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-will-tell-you-this-only-once-homosexuals-have-been-among-the-best/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“This worldly life is very difficult. Mother-in-law comes, mother of the mother-in-law comes, sister of mother-in-law comes, aunt of mother-in-law comes. How many mother-in-laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/this-worldly-life-is-very-difficult-mother-in-law-comes-mother-of-the/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Celibacy is the worst form of self-abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/celibacy-is-the-worst-form-of-self-abuse/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [“Masturbation is not the happiest form of sexuality, but the most advisable for him who wants to be alone and think. I detect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/masturbation-is-not-the-happiest-form-of-sexuality-but-the-most/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“Sheel (the highest state of conduct in worldly interaction) is where not even an iota of a wrong intent arises within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/sheel-the-highest-state-of-conduct-in-worldly-interaction-is-where/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Yes, hypothetically, western Catholicism could revise the theme of celibacy. ... But for the moment, I am in favor of maintaining celibacy, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/yes-hypothetically-western-catholicism-could-revise-the-theme-of/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [It is impossible to believe that the same God who permitted His own son to die a bachelor regards celibacy as an actual sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-impossible-to-believe-that-the-same-god-who-permitted-his-own/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Not just the celibacy thing but because he has God’s ear, a line on the mysteries. That’s impressive to girls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-elkin/not-just-the-celibacy-thing-but-because-he-has-god-s-ear-a-line-on/) [Stanley Elkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-elkin/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [In the name of celibacy, sex has been repressed for centuries and you have become just full of sexuality. Rather than transcending it you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/in-the-name-of-celibacy-sex-has-been-repressed-for-centuries-and-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Fr. Benedict Groeschel says it in his uniquely northern New Jersey way: “Celibacy means that we belong exclusively to the Lord, from our brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-m-dolan-cardinal/fr-benedict-groeschel-says-it-in-his-uniquely-northern-new-jersey-way/) [Timothy M Dolan Cardinal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-m-dolan-cardinal/) > [“...it is poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public! A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-poverty-only-which-makes-celibacy-contemptible-to-a-generous/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Even supposing there were some spiritual advantage in celibacy, it ought to be completely voluntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/even-supposing-there-were-some-spiritual-advantage-in-celibacy-it/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [There were the physical challenges of hitchhiking across Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan as they were quite dangerous areas. I wrote about that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/there-were-the-physical-challenges-of-hitchhiking-across-turkey-iran/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [“Though I wholeheartedly supported celibacy at the start of my seminary career, my opinion changed as I made my way toward and through priesthood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-benedict/though-i-wholeheartedly-supported-celibacy-at-the-start-of-my/) [Charles Benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-benedict/) [Browse all 221 Celibacy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/celibacy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That clerical celibacy doesn't guarantee asceticism is obvious, any more than attending Mass guarantees prayerfulness (trust me on that one). 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