more often than not yes it is a major barrier, bishops want ideal candidates that one have good grades as a majority of the training is just college classes, so say if you got low low grades in school, it wouldnt be a high indicator that one is a good investment, second mental health, you might be given a chance just out of fear of being sued for some kind of infringment on some kind of rights but you would be watched extra carefully and maybe tested with out your knowledge to see what level of stress you can handle. Police, don’t hire ex cons, NSA Government agencies dont hire people who do drugs or have been arrested in the past, so ya cant really expect a bishop to want to hire someone who has mental issues. the military doesn accept people with mental issues either. Though the irony, if you become a priest and then develop a mental issue, you are not discharged of duties. isnt that interesting.
Don’t go advertising your personal medical problems if you want a fair shot at being treated like everyone else. If you are ment to be a priest you will become one, but bishops can and do reject people based on health, be it being over weight , or mental health, or who knows maybe the bishop just doesnt like the way you look. They are humans, they make bad judgements just like anyone else.
The priesthood as religious as it is after one becomes one, is first a financial investment from a bishop and a diocese, so even if you may feel a strong pull towards the priesthood, or the military or what ever, they have standards, they want people who can graduate from a hard college course that isnt so much hard as it is more boring class after boring class if you have ever been to a college class before. The military wants physically fit people versus say someone who is crippled or missing an arm. An they have the right to be picky. It doesnt matter what we feel called to do. If we are meant to do what ever in life, God will find a way for it to happen but we have to be realistic if we are really meant to do something we hope to achieve.
plenty of ways to become a saint, one doesnt have to be a priest or religious to become one.
Just remember being honest, doesnt always suit an agenda, you have to put yourself in someone elses shoes and ask yourself what you are looking for in a candidate that you might hire. And Agendas are not necessarily a bad thing.
ray:t2: