Studia Theologica 2025, 27(2):123-150 | DOI: 10.5507/sth.2025.0141501

Chastity as a Fundamental Virtue of Catholic Sexual Ethics

Dominik Opatrný
Univerzita Palackého
Cyrilometodějská teologická fakulta
Katedra systematické teologie
Univerzitní 22
771 11 Olomouc

Although the virtue of chastity is often presented as the cornerstone of Catholic sexual ethics, little attention has been paid in theological discussion to the origins and transformations of this concept. The present study traces the original meaning of the Roman virtues of castitas and pudicitia, their reception by the most important patristic and scholastic authors and the traditional manuals of moral theology that draw on them, and finally the most important voices of recent decades. It concludes by presenting the challenges posed to the virtue of chastity by contemporary times and proposing adequate responses.

Keywords: Virtue Ethics; Sexual Ethics; Chastity; Augustine; Thomas Aquinas; Karol Wojtyła (1920–2005)

Received: December 2024; Revised: March 2025; Accepted: May 2025; Published: October 2025  Show citation

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Opatrný, D. (2025). Chastity as a Fundamental Virtue of Catholic Sexual Ethics. Studia Theologica, 27(2), 123-150. doi: 10.5507/sth.2025.014
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