Guidelines for Use of Psychology in Seminary Admissions

The departure of a seminarian suggests the necessity to retain the original report of the psychological evaluation and any other observa tions pertaining to its application during the seminarian’s time in the formation program. The seminary rector is ultimately responsible for safeguarding these records. Generally speaking, no release of informa tion is to be made without the consent of the seminarian, unless legiti mately ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction. Since there may be applicable civil laws concerning the confidentiality of a psychological evaluation, whoever has responsibility for retaining the records would be advised to consult civil legal counsel before any information is released. 21

21 Agreements with psychological experts may also govern the retention and further use of pre-ad mission psychological evaluations. Such would be the case where the psychological expert indi cates that no further distribution of the evaluation may be made without prior consent. Experts may be concerned about the validity of a psychological evaluation that is several years old.

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