Dictionary
A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
PURITY
Freedom from anything that weakness or impairs or changes the nature of a being or its activity. Purity of faith means the absence of error what is contrary to the revealed truth; purity of intention is the exclusion of self-will in the desire to perform the will of God; purity of morals commonly refers to the virtue of chastity and therefore freedom from wrongdoing in sexual activity, but on a broader level it means the absence of misbehavior, especially in one's external or publicly recognizable conduct. (Etym. Latin puritas, clearness, cleanness, uprightness.)
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
