Odd question about Holy Orders

  • Thread starter Thread starter ZelkonRodz
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Z

ZelkonRodz

Guest
I don’t really know the best way to phrase this, but here goes.

Could a man with no arms (whether they were born that way or because of an amputation) be ordained a priest? Let’s suppose a seminarian in his final year loses one or both of his arms, would that halt his ordination?
 
ZelkonRodz said:
Could a man with no arms (whether they were born that way or because of an amputation) be ordained a priest? Let’s suppose a seminarian in his final year loses one or both of his arms, would that halt his ordination?
Click to expand...
It depends on the situation.

Servant of God Fr. Bill Atkinson, the world’s first quadriplegic priest, was almost completely paralyzed from the neck down after a tobogganing accident during formation as an Augustinian novice. He received a dispensation to be ordained anyway, and (having later passed away) is currently up for sainthood. From what I have read, Fr. Bill relied on others to “be his hands” when he said Mass, and this was permitted.

I would imagine a seminarian who lost one or both arms before ordination would be in the same situation and, unlike Fr. Bill, might even be able to benefit from an artificial limb, so he too could ask for a dispensation, which might or might not be granted.

I would further note that Fr. Bill was in a religious order where he had other priests and brothers to help him and he was not in the situation of a parish priest having to do things more on his own. I have also heard of bishops not wanting to ordain men with a visible disability such as missing arm, missing hand, because they thought it would be a distraction for others watching the Mass. I would hope we are moving beyond that kind of thinking but who knows.

 
Last edited:
I used to know a priest t Westminster Cathedral in London who was completely blind and he would say Mass still.
 
Yes he could still be ordained. Previously it was thought that the loss of limbs and, particularly, the loss of an index finger was serious but these days not so much.
 
ZelkonRodz said:
Could a man with no arms (whether they were born that way or because of an amputation) be ordained a priest?
Click to expand...
Yes, he certainly could be, if he is baptized. Whether or not he would be is not certain.

Dan
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I would imagine a seminarian who lost one or both arms before ordination would be in the same situation and, unlike Fr. Bill, might even be able to benefit from an artificial limb, so he too could ask for a dispensation, which might or might not be granted.
Click to expand...
Technically, a dispensation is not needed since missing a limb is not an “irregularity” for the reception orders. It used to be.

Dan
 
Certainly. The Vicar of my parish lost an arm in an accident before becoming a Priest. Actually, the accident and seeing a priest visiting the hospital is what initiated his Vocation.

he had many doubts because of the injuries during his formation, but at the end he was ordained and now is a very good priest.
 
Last edited:
If the Church will accept priests with physical imperfections and disabilities, that is very good. The Church and the world need all of the graces they can get, as many priests as possible, as many Masses as possible.

I had to questions some posts here several months ago about a nonverbal autistic man being ordained a priest — discussion of allowing him to use a computer terminal and a speech simulator (I hope I am recalling this correctly) to confect sacraments — and at the time, I thought that might have been a little “over the top”, but if a man is called by God, and if the Church will accept him, I am fine with that. Who could not be?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top