[Cicero]

That's what the Vatican statement implies, if it doesn't state it directly.

A transexual suffers from a mental illness, in which causes him or her to imagine that he is of a different sex from his body. Of course that is not the case.

If, as you say, he mutilates his body with a so-called "sex change operation" and does it in a way that is "irreversible," according to this directive, then even if he repents of the action he is still ineligible, because he has permanently maimed himself.

So it's not only a sin but a permanent disqualification from the priesthood or religious orders.

As I recall from a course I took long ago on medieval history, a man cannot be a priest if he is mutilated, especially if he has lost the fingers that would normally be used to consecrate the host. It may not be his fault, but it's an impediment to performing the priestly functions. That seems to be the case here, too.

[Izzy Dunne]

it's an impediment to performing the priestly functions. That seems to be the case here, too.

Yes, we've all seen how important a penis is to 'priestly functions".

[hotpotato]

A transexual suffers from a mental illness, in which causes him or her to imagine that he is of a different sex from his body. Of course that is not the case.

I'm confused. Do you mean the claim that the transsexual suffers from a mental illness is not the case or that the belief that the transsexual is in the wrong body is not the case?