Vatican Will Root Out Gay Priests With Sex Tests

The Catholic Church plans to screen gay men out of the priesthood with psychological tests aimed to detect "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" in seminary candidates, the Scotsman reports. Under the new guidelines, issued yesterday by the Vatican, potential priests will also be screened for "grave immaturity" and “imbalances” that imply a candidate would have a hard time coping with celibacy.

Gay men were previously allowed to remain priests if they were able to suppress their urges for three years, even though the Catholic Church considers homosexuality to be a sin. The new edict calls for training to be stopped immediately if such tendencies are detected. The tests aren’t mandatory, and will be given on a case-by-case basis.

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