c. 2008 Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY _ The Vatican on Thursday (Oct. 30) recommended that Catholic seminaries test certain applicants for psychological traits _ including “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” _ that could render them unsuitable for the priesthood.
The statement appears in a new document, “Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood,” published by the Congregation for Catholic Education, which supervises Catholic seminaries around the world.
While they do not mandate psychological testing as an automatic part of the seminary admission process, the guidelines call for expert evaluations “whenever there is a suspicion that psychic disturbances may be present.”
The document states that such evaluations can help diagnose any of several “possible problems that block the vocational journey,” including excessive aggression, inability to trust others, and a “sexuality identity that is confused or not yet well defined.”
The guidelines place particular emphasis on the requirement of priestly celibacy.
In evaluating a candidate’s ability to lead a celibate life, the document states, “it is not enough to be sure that he is capable of abstaining from genital activity. It is also necessary to evaluate his sexual orientation” in accordance with a 2005 Vatican document prohibiting the admission of seminarians with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies.”
Such tendencies, like other “areas of grave immaturity,” may emerge during or after a seminarian’s admission, the guidelines note, in which case “the path of formation will have to be interrupted.”
The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are sinful, but not homosexual orientation. Nevertheless, homosexuality is a “deviation,” “irregularity” and “wound” that conflicts with the “spiritual paternity” essential to the nature of the priesthood, said Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, head of the Congregation for Catholic Education.
Speaking at a Vatican press conference to present the guidelines, Grocholewski suggested that homosexuality might be “cured” through psychotherapy.
“We absolutely don’t rule out that possibility, but we need a certain degree of security,” he said. Even after careful screening, the cardinal said, priests sometimes display signs of homosexuality in later life.
According to the Congregation’s No. 2 official, Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, Catholic seminaries have made use of psychological experts, especially in “Anglo-Saxon” and French-speaking countries, since at least the late 1960s.
The practice long pre-dates the recent clergy sex abuse crisis in the U.S. and other countries, but Brugues said that a rise in the use of psychological testing had been “accelerated” by that crisis.
The new guidelines, which Brugues said took 13 years to write and approve, emphasize that seminarians may refuse to undergo psychological evaluations, and must consent before the evaluations are shared with church authorities.
However, the document notes, church law requires “positive” evidence of a candidate’s suitability, so a refusal to be evaluated could disqualify him from the priesthood.
KRE/RB END ROCCA
Eds: “sexuality identity” in 4th graf is CQ
