Priest Who Might Be Autistic

[darkins]

I agree. Autism doesn’t make someone unsuitable to be a priest. I just can’t picture Jesus agreeing with such a position.

Same here. The fact that he felt a calling to the vocation and someone gave him a chance says a lot. Being on the Autism spectrum doesn’t make him a bad person or incapable of being a member of the clergy. Having someone like him as a religious leader would actually inspire me. I’m sure a lot of other people would agree as well.

 

[Allegra]

If a man was autistic this would most likely make him unsuitable for priestly ministry and this is something which almost certainly would have been picked up on during seminary formation if not before (more recent applicants are required to undergo a psychological assessment as part of the admission process). Granted, there are examples of people who are completely unsuitable for priesthood being ordained, although the usually don’t last.

True but not every introvert or otherwise socially awkward person is on the autism spectrum

I strongly disagree. Having autism comes with struggles, but it doesn’t automatically make one unsuitable for priestly ministries. There are certain parts of the gig that he would most likely struggle with, certainly, but others he might be extra good at. I’m a teacher and have worked for years at an school that specializes in autism spectrum disorders. Lots of people on the spectrum are very intelligent, good writers, and while may struggle with interpersonal communication, can be quite good at delivering a speech, particularly if read or memorized. I can understand the OPs frustration with the situation though. My daughter had a neurosurgeon that had an extremely odd affect. His responses to the things my husband and I asked or said were bizarre and confusing. He also refused eye contact and seemed abnormally distant during our conversations, which were about a very serious surgery for our baby girl. I wanted just to straight up ask him if he was autistic, because if he was, I would have felt a lot more comfortable. My second guess was that he was on something, which as you can imagine, made me very, very uncomfortable. I can understand why autistic people don’t really want to make an announcement to every stranger they meet, but it really does put people at ease when they understand that there’s a good reason that the person isn’t interacting in a normal way and that doesn’t mean that they aren’t right upstairs or impaired in some way.