THE Roman Catholic Church in Scotland yesterday defended its right to introduce psychological tests to "out" gay student priests and prevent other gays from becoming priests.
A spokesman for the church said the controversial measures, proposed by the Vatican, which have been condemned by gay rights campaigners, were already in practice in Scotland to some extent.
Under the new measures, men applying to become priests will have to sit a battery of psychological tests designed to discover their sexual orientation. Those who fail will be barred from seminaries.
The new rules have been prompted by a series of sex scandals around the world involving child abuse by priests.
Tim Hopkins, spokesman for the Equality Network, a campaigning organisation for gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgender people, said measures showed that the church had not learned its lesson. "This would be a major mistake for the Vatican and would amount to a formal policy of apartheid."
The church spokesman said: "I can't think of any interviews by employers today which do not involve some kind of personality profile or some kind of psychometric testing.