Katholish:
Diaconia, your list of “irregularities” wouldn’t make an ordination necessarily invalid though. Insanity would because the essential intent of the sacrament could not be present. However, Schismatics or heretics could be validly ordained, as could those who mutilate themselves, etc.
Katholish:
“Irregularity” is the canonical term for a perpetual impediment. In the list I provided, those are the six perpetual impediments to receiving sacred orders. Confer canons 1040 & 1041.
Impediments affect the liceity, that is the legality, of orders. So while a man who has any one of these six irregulaties might be validly ordained, he would not be legally ordainded.
Additionally, illegally receiving sacred orders may be punished by a penalty. This may include a latae sententiae excommunication (by the very act itself) for some of the irregularities.
So, interestingly enough, although a heretic might be validly ordained, if he persisted in his heretical position, he incurs an automatic excommunication (latae sententiae), per canon 1364.
To steer the discussion back to the original thread, the seemingly applicable irregularity involved with a homosexual candidate would be that of amentia.
In my view, the practical application of this would require WIDESPREAD agreement that homosexuality is a mental disorder. It would be hard to establish such agreement, I believe, in the phychological community.
For example, a few years ago the DSM-IV removed the condition of “ephebophilia” because the board believed that homosexuality is NOT a mental disorder. They reasoned that ephebophilia is more like homosexuality and less like pedophilia.
This of course is true, it IS more like homosexuality than pedophilia, but that dodges the root question of whether homosexuality is disordered.
My expertise lies with philosophy & theology, and not in the applied sciences, so I don’t really have any business guess whether homosexuality is a disorder or not.
One final thought, even if homosexuality does not impede orders (if it is NOT amentia), it’s just a BAD IDEA anyway! It might be likened to a recovering alcoholic becoming a bartender. It’s just not prudent for someone with sexual attraction to other men to place themself in such a position of temptation. Such men are prone to act out their frustrations in unhealthy behaviors, which might include unchaste acts, drinking, anger and the like.
Unfortunately, I have first hand experience of what Rose recounted in
Goodbye Good Men. I’ll save that info for another time and place.
In the peace of Christ Jesus,
Chris