Am I allowed to one day be a priest?

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Prayforus

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Through college, I was not a very moral guy at all. I dated, but focused on my lustful desires instead of loving the other individual. Two times we had intercourse, we used Plan B. I used to have problems with viewing inappropriate media of women and touching myself… However, it has been a while since then, and I have gone to confession and still feel guilty for the wrong immature acts of my past. I have changed my life around, and have become very active in my parish and in my prayer life. I no longer struggle with lust. I actually accept the beauty of women and my sexual attraction to them as a great blessing. I do feel a strong pull in my heart to be a priest, but I fear my past has barred me for life from this wonderful vocation…
 
Dude, people who knew my priest in his past are usually all like “THAT GUY BECAME A PRIEST?!?!”
 
Saint Augustine had a sketchy past at best along with many other saints. If the priesthood is what you feel called to do, your past will help minister to those around you. Try not to sweat it!

ZP
 
the only vocation where this would be an issue is consecrated virginity.

the rest all require chastity, which is not quite the same thing, so you will be fine
 
In so many places in scripture God tells us he remembers our sin no more (Micah 7:19, Isa 43:25, Heb 8:12). And he tells us “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17). His forgiveness is absolute to the point of forgetting completely. Sometimes the hardest part is forgiving ourselves as fully as God has forgiven us. When people see genuine holiness in you, and hear where you came from, it will give them hope that growth in holiness is open to them too. Don’t close a door God is holding open to you.
 
You’re not even in the running for bad prior actors that became priests . . .

🤣

The late priest who founded the parish up the street was a union goon in his younger days . . .
hawk
 
I don’t know the technicalities of the matter, but I think this is something to discuss with a vocations director. These days, you might need an attorney to get the ladies to sign off that your encounters were consensual, rather than expose yourself to trouble down the road. If you consider what happened to Brett Kavanaugh as a SCOTUS nominee, that may be advised.

I think there used to be “banns” of Holy Orders, which would be announcements of the Church’s intent to ordain someone. Those were comparable to the old matrimony formality of asking “if their is anyone who knows why these two should not be married, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” Obviously those types of problems go WAY back. Nothing new under the sun.

If this is advised or required at all, it might take the form of those ladies saying (in writing) that they do not know of any reason why you should not be ordained.
 
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I want to thank each of you for the responses you gave. Each response is a true blessing to me. It eases my heart and gives me courage for my future. I am more afraid and do not feel worthy, but from your kind and heartfelt responses, I know that one day I will be ready to enter into seminary. I trust the Will of Our Lord, and thank each of you again for responding. God Bless.
 
I think you would be completely okay to pursue priesthood. Many blessings to you.
 
No! The past is the past! We are all sinners, even priests are! If you feel CALLED, you should absolutely discern and get help from a priest/vocations director/spiritual director. God bless!
 
In this day and age, a single #metoo accusation is pretty much the end of that. It doesn’t have to be true.
 
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Prayforus said:
Through college, I was not a very moral guy at all. I dated, but focused on my lustful desires instead of loving the other individual. Two times we had intercourse, we used Plan B. I used to have problems with viewing inappropriate media of women and touching myself… However, it has been a while since then, and I have gone to confession and still feel guilty for the wrong immature acts of my past. I have changed my life around, and have become very active in my parish and in my prayer life. I no longer struggle with lust. I actually accept the beauty of women and my sexual attraction to them as a great blessing. I do feel a strong pull in my heart to be a priest, but I fear my past has barred me for life from this wonderful vocation…
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Let’s state your question bluntly:
Does God really have the power that is expressed in psalm 103, and the same power that Christ exercises through the Gospels to eradicate your sin?

Please allow me to suggest: your difficulty in pursuing the priesthood is not with your past failings, it’s with your present humility before God’s mercy.
Let me witness from my own life: the only obstacle to freedom before the Lord is my own pride.
He has already won this battle. All the rest is a lie of the accuser.
 
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