Abtilis

Canon 21

Overview

This canon prohibits the ordination of a man who has castrated himself voluntarily, stating that such a person is an enemy to himself and to God's creation, and therefore unfit for clerical office.

1Abṭelis, 21. If a man has castrated himself voluntarily, let him not be made a bishop, a presbyter, a deacon, or a reader, nor be raised to the rank of the priesthood. For he is an enemy to himself by killing himself, and he is an enemy to the creation of God.