"To understand the post-World War Ii celibacy debate, some information on the meaning the Catholic Church assigns to clerical celibacy is required. The word “celibacy” simply refers to the state of living unmarried. But in Catholicism, celibacy means much more than bachelorhood. Since the Catholic Church considers all sexual activity outside of marriage sinful, celibacy also implies chastity. Celibacy is a requisite of clerical office, but it is also considered an eschatological sign of and stimulus for the call to ministry. The celibate priest is understood to be both bride and bridegroom in the suprasexual nuptial relationship between Christ and Church. He is also the bridegroom of the Church, “his bride”, with whom he has entered into an indissoluble marriage contrast. Thus, as Tina Beattie pointed ut, the female body is excluded from the suprasexual relationship between Christ and the Church. This exclusion informs both the Church’s understanding of marriage and the exalted status accorded the celibate priesthood. For centuries, the Church taught that celibacy, as a form of spiritual marriage with God, constituted a state superior to that of earthly marriage. Although marriage represented a gift from God, in its sexuality it was tainted by original sin and consequently intended for those Christians who could not practice continence. In the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, sexual intercourse became corrupted by lust, and the emphasis shifted to man’s loss of control over the sexual organs. Eve’s role as temptress and instigator of human suffering meant that marriage was intended not only as a means of controlling human sexuality, but more specifically as a means of controlling women. To this end, the Catholic Church taught that the primary purpose of marriage was the generation and rearing of offspring. This conception of marriage as an inferior form of Christian life defined by parturition helped justify the celibate male clergy’s authority over the laity, particularly in the bedroom."