Vatican issues screening guidelines for priests after sex scandals

Well then, if religion is not going anywhere then neither is war, since religion has been the basis for the wars fought on this planet from the beginning of time.

I consider myself to be a melow guy but these fucked up priests make me want to kick some serious ASS!
Actually I think that a lifetime in prison is best. That way they get karma though the same offense they committed.

This is totally ridiculous. One day you complain that the Church does nothing about it and when they do, you complain that instead they should just "Close the Doors of the Church". Evidently, people here think they are the center of the world.

Remember that this is the Most practiced Religion, by far more than 2 billions people. 40%-60% of the Parents of people here were or are fully religious as well. It's about time you also start respecting other people's belief and cut the crap about Religions. They are not going anywhere. Atheist that criticize the Religions are doing far worst than those that believe in one and don't criticize you as Atheist.

Move On and Grow up.

If some of these guys need help upholding their vows, then what about chemical castration for those working with children just to keep them honest? Many of these people have the ability to do far more harm than good & should be scrutinized far more closely after the molestation scandal.

Their religion doesn't tolerate homosexuality, nor do most religions. Their Bible teaches against it. Let them do their thing. Nobody has to join their religion. We all have a choice.

What I don't understand is priest hood is supposedly something you are "called" to do from god. So if you feel god call upon you to be a priest, then you fail the church's psychology test, what then? Isn't the church discrediting "god's divine will"?

The crazy thing is that people filling Catholic caufers are actually paying off RAPE settlements... for CHILD RAPE.

Praise God? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

What? Um, if they're going to screen, they should screen for signs of pedophilia. Homosexuality (deep-seated or otherwise) has nothing to do with abusing children!

I can see it now: "Bishop, it's just a phase. I'll be over it in three years." --a Recovering Catholic, who never got molested by any priest, no matter how hard I tried =)

The momoent they realized they should start a "screening process" is the moment they should have closed the church's doors. All of them. Forever.

Extrememly few child molesters are gay! This is insanity and just another way the church is hiding their thousand year history of child molestation.

I have a guidleine they should follow... if a priest commits molestation, hang him by his neck til dead!

I agree!

Homosexuality is not a precursor to molestation.

The Vatican is disgusting.

The current pope personally wrote an internal memo mandating that known pedophiles in their midst be hidden and moved around to avoid being discovered by outsiders.

Anyone who is part of their sickening business, goes to their churches or donates in any way should be ashamed of themselves.

If this was any other business people would be outraged. If this was any other Religion people would take to the streets. And they should.

Fuck the Catholic church. They have no affiliation with any god I can imagine.

Futuregen:

Uncanny how much organized religion is like politics, isn't it?

1. cult mentality
2. money rules all
3. crimes are covered up
4 broken up into warring factions

anymore?

Priests and nuns torture adults and children in effort to control them to ensure their own success in political agendas.

I just find it mindblowing that even in the 21st Century the Roman Catholic Church is still in the 11th. They preach about love thy neighbor yet hate their own.Their total unChristian intolerance to gays and women is in my view a total antithesis to the words of Christ. I suppose that is why all those centuries ago they worked as hard as they could to kill off his humanity as well.

And I too would like to know just what their test consists of and if it also extended to cardinals and bishops already in the hierarchy and those already in the priesthood. I simply would not send my child to church alone or allow them to be in a situation with a priest or minister alone, and would attend church with him. As a youth I was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and we didn't have priests. Just a minister and an assistant. All events were public, and a child was never in a situation where they would be alone with a minister. Perhaps that is something else the church might consider. Confessionals in my view are not necessary.There should be no middle man between you and your God as we are all sinners.

Its about time!!

Reliably identifying a pedophile is not difficult. A funtional MRI while being shown pictures of children hugging playing close,etc. would light up a certain area of the brain in a pedophile that would not in a person not sexually oriented toward children.Further testing may indicate that such a person may be able to control such tendencies, but that person should never be placed in such a position of temptation .Any other psychological test is subjective and most people with this tendency are extremly good at masking it.

How effective will psychological screening be though?

I would love to hear of some of the practices they use to "vet" candidates for priesthood.

Well it's about time the church started doing something about this problem. This problem has been going on for way too long and should be delt with in a strict manner.

Watch your heart there, responding three time is a little too excited.

@ the very top of the vatican they TEACH raping children. it's 'tantric sex magic'. they talked about it on south park. they believe that if you take a young persons innocense through a sexual magic ritual that they can live longer.

I wonder why the preference for young boys and not girls?

What do they have a Rorschach test with young boys pictures?

Talk about a delayed response...

Where they get this wrong is that homosexuality is not the cause of child molestation. Plenty of girls have been molested by priests as well.

This really doesn't make me feel better about the whole thing. They need to acknowledge the past abuses and actually get rid of those people rather than protecting them like they have been for years.

I cant help but notice they say this like they need this screening to tell them which ones are pedophiles when I have some advice on how to tell without the test....when it is reported to them that a priest is doing this, HE IS ONE!! Stop ignoring it and hiding it and protecting them! The problem isnt that they cant identify which ones are doing it, the problem is KNOWING which ones are doing it and then ALLOWING them to continue doing it!

Yes, and my point is, their policies are already psychologically flawed and may contribute to the very behavior they seek to avoid regardless of any 'testing'. They are hypocrites to the extreme. I sometimes wonder if it does go back to the belief by some that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene (who was said to have been selected by Christ to continue as head of his church)and had a child. They seem utterly predisposed to abhoring even sex in marriage, and have relegated women to second place status in the church (look up Opus Dei) even telling women what they can or cannot do with their bodies if they want to go to "heaven." How any woman could be a member of such a church boggles my mind.

This is sick. They are denouncing everyone who isn't straight as being 'mentally confused' or something, and then blame them for the child abuse going on in churces. Scapegoating, anyone?

In other words learn to live a lie. Better an alcoholic , screwed up bitter husk of a human than an authentic functional one..Way to go O Wise One.

"A 2005 Vatican document said men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies shouldn't be ordained, but that those with a "transitory problem" could become priests if they had overcome them for three years. The Vatican considers homosexual activity sinful. "

Bastards.

As usual a day late and a dollar short and totally wrong.People who are homosexual are not more pedophiles than are heterosexuals. The pope also has said that homosexual orientation is not sinful ( it is the act that is). What a dreadful disappointment this man is.

One thing they need to realize is that most of the Child Molesters are not Gay. Just because a person is Gay doesn't automatically make them a child molester.

Its about time. They should have been properly screening and disqualifying priests a long time ago.