Can a man who has fathered a child become a priest?

[Storyteller]

I am a writer with a story idea involving a Cathiolic priest as the main character, and I would like to know a few things before I begin my main draft. I wish no disrespect to anyone, and especially not to the Catholic church.

My first question is, can a man who has biologically fathered a child enter into the seminary? To be precise, I would like to offer a broad overview of the central plot of the story.

My main character, Frank, was something of a juvenile delinquent in the late 1960’s, and his girlfriend’s father attacked him when he found out his daughter was pregnant. Attacking back in self defense landed Frank in Juvenile Detention, where he was mentored by a Catholic priest. The girlfriend, meanwhile, found a husband, and the pair were raising Frank’s daughter as their own. Having found a spiritual awakening in the teachings of his mentor, Frank chose not to disrupt the little girl’s life, and instead entered into the seminary.

Would this sequence of events be plausible? And, if not, why?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

No, it would not be plausible because it would not happen. Dioceses and religious orders will only accept fathers whose children are grown. Young children NEED to have a mother and a father. I deal here and elsewhere with many men and women who have abandonment issues with fathers who chose not to know them. When children learn that theirs fathers chose to leave them, they invariably conclude that it is because of some defect in themselves. No child deserves to be treated in this way.

However, IF the mother’s husband were to adopt the child, then the child would have the mother’s last name and the child would grow without feeling abandoned in any way. So this could possibly work for you.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.