Letter: Challenge of Catholic life

Huzzahs and high fives for your endeavour to educate the English- speaking world (Words, 22 September) on the official definition of celibacy. I, too, was seduced into the false belief that celibacy meant no sex. It was reinforced when I went to the Oxford Concise Dictionary ("abstention from sexual relations and marriage"). Only when I lifted my two-stone Compact Oxford English Dictionary did I see your argument clearly ("not married").

While I am on your side, popular usage is not. I have read the improper use of the word in rags popular and literate. I have heard priests and talk-show hosts ignore your pleas and plod on using celibacy with a "no sex" interpretation.

They will rule, whereas we true believers will suffer in obscurity until such time as a papal decree is issued.

Louis De La Foret

Northampton