The Vatican has issued new guidelines recommending psychological screening for men interested in joining the Catholic priesthood.

Catholic seminaries have been urged to screen the candidates for certain psychological traits — including “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” — that could later compromise their roles, the Irish Times reports.

The Congregation for Catholic Education, the supervising body for Catholic seminaries worldwide, published the guidelines.

Sex-abuse cases have scandalized the Catholic Church in recent years, costing them hundreds of million dollars in settlements.

Psychological testing will not be obligatory, but could be helpful when church officials are suspicious about candidate that may possess “homosexual tendencies, unclear sexual identity, difficulty with the celibate life, excessive rigidity of character and lack of freedom in relations.”

Those meeting such criteria will be denied priesthood, the article said.

–Julia Hengst/Newsdesk.org

Source:

“Vatican advises ‘psychological evaluations’ for seminarians”
The Irish Times, October 31, 2008