The church documents on priestly and religious life propose criteria that enable one to judge the level of human and psycho-sexual maturity required in candidates for priestly and religious life (Optatam Totius, 1966, no. 11; Congregation for Institutes, 1990, no. 33). Assessing a candidate's capacity for intimacy and affective maturity is considered a crucial aspect of healthy religious formation. Capacity for healthy relationships is a core element of affective maturity. In order to be effective in fulfilling pastoral ministry, the growing capacity to relate in more honest and conscious ways with oneself, with others and with God is considered crucial (McClone, 2009). This chapter will consider various elements of human maturity and the role of sexuality in the formation to psychosexual maturity.
Several different adjectives can be used to specify the word maturity. We can speak of emotional maturity, psychosexual maturity, affective maturity, social maturity, spiritual maturity, etc. The different nuances of meaning apart, we will simply use the general term emotional or human maturity in the context of this chapter on human maturity and sexuality.