http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7700710.stm

Pope Benedict XVI has approved the new guidanceThe Roman Catholic Church has issued guidance for future priests to have psychological tests to weed out those unable to control their sexual urges.A senior churchman said a series of sex scandals had contributed to the rewriting of the guidelines.The authors said screening would help avoid “tragic situations” caused by what they termed psychological defects.The guidance says the voluntary tests should also aim to vet for those with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies”.Among other traits that might make a candidate unsuitable for the priesthood, the advice lists “uncertain sexual identity,” “excessive rigidity of character” and “strong affective dependencies”.The document also makes reference to heterosexual urges.Seminarians should be barred if testing makes it “evident the candidate has difficulty living in celibacy: That is, if celibacy for him is lived as a burden so heavy that it compromises his affective and relational equilibrium”, it says.

I am loving this from several angles:1) How stupid is it to make these tests, and have them be voluntary? Is some wanna-be priest going to elect to take a test that may force him out of the priesthood, in front of his family and friends? Is he going to WANT to take a test if he ALREADY has thoughts about raping kids? “Gee Mom, I know I’ve been training for years to be a priest, but I elected to take a test and it said I have questionable sexual tendencies”. Yeah. They’ll be lining up to take it.2) How much does this show that the Holy See has absolutely no intention of solving the problem, allowing priests to skip the tests, and STILL not allowing them to marry? This is why there aren’t enough priests! Priesthood sucks — and people know it. Not brain surgery.3) What the hell does “excessive rigidity of character” and “strong affective dependencies” mean, anyway? Aren’t priests SUPPOSED to be rigid and affect many lives? What kind of people are they looking for here?

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