Gitsew
Canon 15
Overview
This canon distinguishes involuntary or congenital castration from self-castration and sets penalties for ordained and lay persons who mutilate themselves.
1Canon Fifteen.
2Concerning eunuchs.
3If a man has been castrated by others through violence, if his genitals were cut off in war, or if he was born that way, then, if he is worthy, let him be appointed bishop.
4But if he has castrated himself, he shall not be among the ordained, because he has become one who kills himself and an enemy of God’s creation.
5If one of the ordained cuts off his natural organ, he shall be removed from office, because he is one who kills himself.
6A layperson who castrates himself shall be excommunicated for three years, because he has become an enemy of his own life.