The Vatican wants to test the sexual orientation of aspiring priests. The powerful Congregation for Catholic Education is considering the introduction of psychological tests for seminarians that will reveal if they are homosexual. In an internal document leaked to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the Congregation declares its desire to create safeguards to prevent homosexuals and paedophiles being ordained as priests. But the document does not go into detail about how such a controversial test could be carried out.

The suggestion is an indirect reaction to a series of sex scandals that have rocked the church, particularly in the United States. The Vatican has been deeply shocked by revelations concerning priests who have abused schoolchildren and choirboys in America. A number of the victims have gone to court, leading to the arrest in Boston of a former priest, who was given a 10-year jail sentence.

Huge Damages
Significantly, the Archbishopric of Boston must pay damages to the victims amounting to 110 million euro. The Church fears that complaints and claims will spread like wildfire across the US, and possibly beyond. After all, last year the Bishop of Bayeux in France was also sentenced to three months in prison because he had not reported a paedophile priest in his bishopric.

Up to now, the Vatican has simply avoided the problem. Spokespersons have referred to a 1961 document in which it is stated that "those who suffer from the perversions of homosexuality and paedophilia must be not be ordained to the priesthood". And Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, argued last year that homosexuals should also be thrown out of seminaries. In practice, that doesn't happen very often, not least because the Church is suffering from a chronic shortage of priests. Most affairs have been discretely swept under the carpet.

Utmost Secrecy
At the end of last year, while events were being played out in the US, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith produced guidelines for dealing with paedophile priests. The bishops were given the responsibility by the Congregation to inform them of any cases in the utmost secrecy. But now that the paedophile Pandora's box has been opened in the US, the Vatican can no longer stay silent.

In commentaries on the scandals in the US, it's often noted that the enforced chastity in the seminaries, and the restriction to male companionship, encourages homosexuality. Even the newspaper of the Archbishopric of Boston suggested that the root of the problem could lie in celibacy and the absence of female priests.

Taboo
But the current Pope has frequently made it clear that such matters are taboo as far as he's concerned. Furthermore, Pope John Paul II has hardly ever spoken out over the problem of sexual abuse by priests. His only comment on the subject is in an account of a conference of bishops two years ago, when he asked the victims for forgiveness.

Considering the Pope's position, no strong measures are expected from his side. Therefore the Vatican Curia is ready to make changes that are not too radical, that will save the church's reputation without breaking with tradition. Apart from the possibility of a sexuality test, nothing more has happened yet.