Testiculos Habet Et Bene Pendentes

"He has balls, and they hang well."

This latin phrase is reportedly spoken by Cardinal as part of the procedures used to invest a new Pope in the Catholic Church (see Barbara Walker's The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets). The lore has it that after the incident with Pope Joan, the Church wanted to be sure that all furture Popes were, in fact, male. Therefore, the nominated Pope must sit robed with no underwear on a ringed stool while the Cardinal verifies from one floor below that he has, in fact, the goods.

My Everything motto.

Having gone to a minor (read: high school) seminary, I can say this tradition generally applies to any priest, though it has since (thankfully, and before I got there) died out.

Any priest is required to be free of physical defect, and in good health. The current Archbishop of Chicago was refused admission into the diocesan seminary because he suffered from ill health; asthma and polio, if I am not mistaken. Part of the physical examination is to make sure the prospective seminarian has got a pair, and that both have, *ahem*, descended.