Catholic singles gather to discuss chastity

Mar 22, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A comprehensive program at St. Anne’s Church helps single Catholics live chastity and offers services that promote life.

The Porterville Recorder reported that every Monday, a group of men and women gather at the parish to discuss how to be chaste and live the Catholic faith in the world today.

"Chastity before marriage is not just for teenagers; it is for everybody,” Fr. Scott Daugherty told the Recorder. “You don't idolize sex. It's the human person you honor and it's that person you dishonor when you put matters of the flesh first.

“It's not a matter of don't do it, it's a matter of understanding that you want to wait until marriage and understand the value of the human person,” he said.

In another effort to promote life, the church refers women who become unexpectedly pregnant to the Porterville Pregnancy Crisis Center or to other people who provide counseling support within the parish, Fr. Daugherty said.

The church also offers Project Rachel, a program in which women who have had abortions are provided counseling to deal with the loss.