Pope Francis wants psychological testing to prevent problem priests. But will that work?

(Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP) Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019.As the Catholic Church quakes through one sexual abuse scandal after another, Pope Francis recently announced a policy he wants to implement on a worldwide scale: No man should become a priest without a psychological evaluation proving he is suited to a life of chastity.

In the United States, most men seeking to enter a Catholic seminary undergo psychological testing, often a battery of questions that probes their deepest secrets and can last for days.

As Francis elevates the visibility of this type of testing, it raises the question of just how this profiling works and whether any…