Impotence and the priesthood

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jrab

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I came across this Fulton J. Sheen Quote:
“The Church will not ordain a man to the priesthood who has not his vital powers. She wants men who have something to tame, rather than those who are tame because they have no energy to be wild. It should be no different with God.”

Is it true that impotent men cannot become priests?
 
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This is the second thread in a few days on which this has come up. The discussion on the other thread was that, assuming a candidate for the priesthood has all the necessary equipment, there is no way to test him for impotence that wouldn’t be sinful.

I found this, discussing that under canon law, any sort of voluntary castration would bar a man from the priesthood because it would be considered self-mutilation:


Both this reference and the other thread speculate that if a man was medically documented as impotent for some medical reason not caused by himself, such as testicular cancer or an accident, he might be able to get a dispensation to still become a priest.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I found this, discussing that under canon law, any sort of voluntary castration would bar a man from the priesthood because it would be considered self-mutilation:
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That’s a matter of some debate. (Edited to add: I should clarify that whether or not getting a vasectomy is an act of mutilation (cf. canon 1041) is a matter of debate. Full blown castration…yeah…rather not contemplate that).
Tis_Bearself said:
Both this reference and the other thread speculate that if a man was medically documented as impotent for some medical reason not caused by himself, such as testicular cancer or an accident, he might be able to get a dispensation to still become a priest.
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The distinction between sterility and impotence has to be maintained. But, beside that, it is not sterility or impotence that is an impediment to orders (these impediments, aka, irregularities, do not invalidate ordination, by the way) but the act of mutilation.

Dan
 
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Of course not. This is one man’s opinion, however it is not that of the Church. There are many vices and physical proclivities to tame.
Impotence does not equate to having no physical desire for intimacy.
 
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