Oct 31, 2008
Tests to suss out gay priests?
While condoning the use of such tests by Catholic seminaries, the document approved by Pope Benedict XVI says they must be strictly voluntary. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
VATICAN CITY- THE Vatican acknowledges that psychological tests could help identify candidates for the Catholic priesthood who show homosexual tendencies, according to a document released on Thursday.
While condoning the use of such tests by Catholic seminaries, the document approved by Pope Benedict XVI says they must be strictly voluntary.
'Deep-seated homosexual tendencies' and 'uncertain sexual identity' are listed in the document along with 'excessive rigidity of character' and 'strong affective dependencies' as traits that might make a candidate unsuitable for the priesthood.
The document, made public on Thursday by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, stipulates that psychological testing must always have the candidate's 'previous, explicit, informed, and free consent'.
Paedophile priest scandals that have hit the Catholic Church in recent years were not the 'primary cause' behind the document, as the Church has reflected for decades on the relationship between religious faith and psychology, the Congregation's secretary, Monsignor Jean-Louis Brugues, told a news conference.
But they helped 'accelerate' the process and were 'certainly a determining factor,' he said.
In addition to paedophile priest scandals in several countries, notably the United States, as well as in Latin America and Europe, a seminary in Austria was shut down in August 2004 after revelations that students there openly indulged in homosexual behaviour.
The Vatican document, titled 'Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood', says: 'Errors in discerning of vocations are not rare.'
The authors warn that 'in all too many cases psychological defects, sometimes of a pathological kind, reveal themselves only after ordination to the priesthood. Detecting defects earlier would help avoid many tragic experiences.'
They added: 'Those who today ask admittance to the seminary reflect in a more or less accentuated way the unease of an emerging mentality characterised by consumerism, instability in family and social relationships, moral relativism, erroneous visions of sexuality... and a systematic negation of values, especially by the media.' -- AFP
Tests to suss out gay priests?
While condoning the use of such tests by Catholic seminaries, the document approved by Pope Benedict XVI says they must be strictly voluntary. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
VATICAN CITY- THE Vatican acknowledges that psychological tests could help identify candidates for the Catholic priesthood who show homosexual tendencies, according to a document released on Thursday.
While condoning the use of such tests by Catholic seminaries, the document approved by Pope Benedict XVI says they must be strictly voluntary.
'Deep-seated homosexual tendencies' and 'uncertain sexual identity' are listed in the document along with 'excessive rigidity of character' and 'strong affective dependencies' as traits that might make a candidate unsuitable for the priesthood.
The document, made public on Thursday by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, stipulates that psychological testing must always have the candidate's 'previous, explicit, informed, and free consent'.
Paedophile priest scandals that have hit the Catholic Church in recent years were not the 'primary cause' behind the document, as the Church has reflected for decades on the relationship between religious faith and psychology, the Congregation's secretary, Monsignor Jean-Louis Brugues, told a news conference.
But they helped 'accelerate' the process and were 'certainly a determining factor,' he said.
In addition to paedophile priest scandals in several countries, notably the United States, as well as in Latin America and Europe, a seminary in Austria was shut down in August 2004 after revelations that students there openly indulged in homosexual behaviour.
The Vatican document, titled 'Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood', says: 'Errors in discerning of vocations are not rare.'
The authors warn that 'in all too many cases psychological defects, sometimes of a pathological kind, reveal themselves only after ordination to the priesthood. Detecting defects earlier would help avoid many tragic experiences.'
They added: 'Those who today ask admittance to the seminary reflect in a more or less accentuated way the unease of an emerging mentality characterised by consumerism, instability in family and social relationships, moral relativism, erroneous visions of sexuality... and a systematic negation of values, especially by the media.' -- AFP
