Catholic Churches Sign Up to Administer 'Gay Test'

The Vatican — arguably the most out of touch religious leadership in the world — strongly urges Catholic Churches to test wannabe preachers on their sexuality.

Well, testing for "being gay" is not as scientific as it sounds. Because we wouldn't want the Pope to do something rash and start believing in science. Which explains why the mere "appearance" of being gay is justification enough to keep creepy guys who commit to Jesus out of the church. And remember, even celibate gays aren't allowed! Score one for repression — from a church who knows a thing or two about how to violate its parishioners.

The Vatican's directive about banning gay priests, called the "Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood," was proposed last year in a pitiful attempt at dodging criticism for the sex abuse scandals. It's also a significant step toward cementing Catholicisim's homophobia; the church used to tolerate gay priests so long as they were "non-practicing" homosexuals. Now, any gay is banned.

And at least one diocese has signed on to the testing, in a weak ploy to weed out potential batty men.

The Melbourne Catholic Church has embraced a Vatican recommendation to test potential priests for sexual orientation.

Under the guidelines, potential priests who "appear" to be gay must be banned.
The head of the Vatican committee that made the recommendations has made it clear celibate gays should also be banned because homosexuality is ‘‘a type of deviation’’.

Archdiocese of Melbourne spokesman James O’Farrell confirmed Carlton’s Corpus Christi Catholic seminary had started adhering to the guidelines, but refused to comment further.

Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby spokeswoman Hayley Conway said the church was sending a ‘‘dangerous and offensive’’ message about sexuality.

‘‘They seem to be moving backwards in a lot of ways which is really unfortunate . . . especially for those who are Catholic and out, and there are a lot of them already struggling,’’ she said. [Herald Sun]

And in the biggest exercise of irony, the Vatican recommends "that the people who do the testing should have 'solid human and spiritual maturity' and a 'Christian concept of the human person, sexuality, the priestly vocation and celibacy,'" notes activist Peter Tatchell. "In other words, conformity to homophobic Catholic doctrine takes precedence over professional qualifications."