Bishop: give up sex for Lent

And you thought giving up chocolate was tough.

Try this idea, from a bishop in the Philippines:

Proving that Catholic and Islam also have some commonality, a Roman Catholic prelate said abstinence from sex during the Lenten Season is also something that they are encouraging couples to do.

But according to Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, unlike Muslims, they do not impose it strictly.

“That is their own decision… But we encourage it,” said Aniceto, who is the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines – Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (CBCP-ECFL).

He noted that such a practice has enough grounds in the Holy Bible.

“It’s in the Bible that the Jewish priest cannot officiate in the Holy of Holies unless he abstains from conjugal act with the wife,” noted Aniceto.

Based on Muslim practice, they are prohibited to engage in sex during Ramadan, or the Islamic month of fasting.