Psychological evaluation of Catholic seminary candidates: Strengths, shortcomings, and an innovative plan.

Abstract

The ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has led to calls for major changes in the psychological evaluation of seminary applicants. Unfortunately, there is increasing agreement that current, standard psychological testing is not effective in ferreting out sexual difficulties in the general population, much less in seminary candidates. This article addresses both the strengths and shortcomings of the current evaluation process, as well as within the ecclesial system. We begin with a review of relevant Church documents, existing research literature on psychological evaluation and the assessments of clergy and seminary applicants, as well as the experience of experts in these evaluations. As part of this analysis, the article critically delves into both the current strengths and shortcomings of recent Church efforts. Among the major shortcomings is the lack of communication between the major stakeholders: vocation, formational personnel and psychologists and a uniformly applied, standardized battery that emphasizes “suitability” with little or no focus on the “fit” of candidates for a particular diocese or religious order. Finally, we describe realistic approaches to increase the effectiveness and predictability of such evaluations and offer an innovative plan for large-scale postdoctoral training and certification of psychologists to provide evidence-based psychological evaluations of seminary candidates. Such a plan is intended not only to better address the issues of abuse within the Church but also to build and improve the happiness and health of the clergy.

Utility of the Rorschach in psychological assessments for diocesan and religious candidates.

“…Additionally, bishops have shied away from recommending which tests to use, respecting the psychological community’s expertise. Second, Church efforts have been limited by the lack of widespread knowledge, or acceptance, of what guidelines the Church has issued, either by psychologists or particular dioceses and religious orders (McGlone et al, 2010; McGlone & Sperry, in press; Ortiz & McGlone, 2015). This general lack of consistency among test batteries, lack of agreement of what to measure, limitations in identified measures/variables that can predict health or future problems in seminarians, and what constitutes an adequate psychological profile for someone entering religious life, needs to be further developed and analyzed.…”

Psychological evaluations of clergy applicants in the Catholic Church: Answering frequently asked questions.

“…A strong collaborative relationship can assist the psychologist in understanding the values, strengths, and characteristics that are desired by the diocesan or religious community. Thus, the psychological evaluation would be ideally tailored to the specific community and provide an “assessment of fit” that enhances the stated purposes outlined above (McGlone & Sperry, 2020). Various models of collaboration may guide psychologists in interactions with clergy representations.…”

“…While there are no universally accepted and standardized testing batteries, there are helpful guidelines offered by the USCCB’s Office of Consecrated Life as well as published research that offers suggested protocols for psychologists to use (McGlone & Sperry, 2020; Plante & Boccaccini, 1998; USCCB, 2015). These guidelines offer suggestions and best practices but do not mandate a particular protocol to follow.…”

“…Most psychologists who conduct clerical evaluations for the Catholic Church are not researchers and do not publish clinical data. Additionally, the Catholic Church, through the USCCB or other international bishop conferences, has not created a national or international database regarding these evaluations despite repeated calls from noted experts (e.g., McGlone & Sperry, 2020). However, some academic researchers conduct these evaluations and have published a variety of peer-reviewed articles on these topics.…”

“…Despite the implementation of a required psychological evaluation for seminary admission and advancements in research, there are noted inconsistencies and lingering questions about the psychological evaluation of clergy applicants (McGlone & Sperry, 2020). For example, scholars have noted that some psychological reports are 20 pages long while other reports are two pages long (Isacco, Lynch, et al, 2020).…”