The reason for our trip was that I was invited by Our Lady of Nazareth parish in Roanoke to present a day-long conference about healthy ministry and spiritual abuse for all of the church staff in their deanery. There were over forty participants there including bookkeepers, deacons, front office staff, youth ministers, priests, and (my favorite) catechists.

While I’ve given presentations and workshops about spiritual abuse dozens of times, most of the time my audience self-selected to be there. That wasn’t the case for this group. This event was a professional development day that the staff were asked to attend. And it was a wonderful day! The participants were engaged with the presentations and the group discussions were lively. It was such a great time being with this group of ministers.

Most of my work, from my counseling to my workshops, is online. This allows people from all over the world to have access to these resources. But there’s something really wonderful about connecting and engaging with others in person.

I’d love to visit your parish to give a presentation or day-conference. See the poster below for the details!

Similarly, Pope Leo begins his first encyclical by presenting us with the choice we face today: “Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together” (MH 1).

Stories about data centers, flock cameras, and rogue AI agents are filling more and more of my newsfeed. I read articles from AI Doomers predicting the end of humanity, and from AI Dreamers forecasting utopia. This feels like a pivotal moment in history. A pivotal enough moment for the pope to weigh in.

Like how his 19th century predecessor—Pope Leo XIII—issued the first social encyclical Rerum Novarum to address the “new things” of his generation, this spring, Pope Leo XIV gave us Magnifica Humanitas to help us navigate the present day. Specifically, the pope is helping us discern how to safeguard the human person in the age of AI. He goes on to say:

“Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice. In the abstract, technology in and of itself is not a solution to humanity’s problems, just as it is not inherently evil. In practice, however, technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate and use it. Therefore, the primary choice is not between a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to technology, but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem; between a power that claims to dominate the heavens and a people who work together in the presence of God to rebuild the walls of fraternal coexistence” (MH 9).

I would like to invite you to read and discern Pope Leo’s guidance with me this October. I’m leading a four-week study group to read and discuss the landmark encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.

This group is for:

• Catechists

• Teachers

• Priests

• Parents

• Anyone trying to better understand what it means to live as a Christian in the modern world

This workshop will help you:

• Better understand the Kerygma and the Church’s social teaching

• Participate more in building the Kingdom of God in the age of artificial intelligence

• Apply the Church’s social teaching to your own life

• Have the skills and confidence to read and understand papal documents

In this study group, you will have:

• The freedom to participate as you want

• The opportunity to learn and grow within a small group

• A non-judgmental space that proclaims and invites, but never imposes

• The chance to ask and discuss any questions that you have

Details:

This is a four-part live study group that will be held virtually on Thursday, October 8, October 15, October 22, and October 29 at 7:30-9:00pm (EST).

The first meeting will include personal introductions and a brief catechesis from me about the encyclical and Catholic Social Teaching in general. The study group will be held in a seminar format where small group-discussion will be prioritized over lecture or formal presentations.

Sign Up Here!

Pricing:

This four-week study group is $250.

Making this group available to anyone who can benefit from it is important to me, but it’s also an essential part of my family’s income. I don’t want inability to pay to be obstacle for you to participate. So if you can’t pay the full $250, please pay what you can (even if it’s only $10). And if you can pay more than $250, please consider giving more to offset the cost.

And if you can’t attend this workshop, but you are grateful that resources like this exist, please consider financially supporting it.

How to Pay:

1. Send a custom payment via PayPal (paul@faheycounseling.com) or Venmo (@catholicthirdspace)

2. Or use your credit card to pay $250 here:
https://buy.stripe.com/00w9AS4ga0Wc7To3DFdIA05

I’m looking forward to having you in this group.

Sign Up Here!

Register Here!

I’m a professional counselor who previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. I accompany those who have been spiritually abused and create resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against abuse.

Join me for an online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

This workshop is for:

• Individuals trying to better understand their experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church

• Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience

• Therapists or spiritual directors working with clients who have been spiritually abused

This workshop will help you:

• Recognize and prevent spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Church

• Know the symptoms of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and moral injury

• Better understand and respond to abusive systems in the Church

Details:

This is five-part live workshop that will be held virtually. I’m running two workshops with day or evening sessions to accommodate different time zones and work schedules.

Groups will have between 5 and 12 participants and space will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Your space in the workshop will not be held until payment is received

• Group 1 - Wednesdays, 8:00-10:00am (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7

• Group 2 - Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00pm (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7

Register Here!

Price:

This five-week workshop is $400.

Making this workshop available to anyone who can benefit from it is important to me, but it’s also an essential part of my family’s income. I don’t want inability to pay to be obstacle for you to participate. So if you can’t pay the full $400, please pay what you can (even if it’s only $10). And if you can pay more than $400, please consider giving more to offset the cost.

And if you can’t attend this workshop, but you are grateful that resources like this exist, please consider financially supporting it.

How to Pay:

1. Pay $400 with a credit card here: https://buy.stripe.com/fZu8wOaEy48ogpU8XZdIA01

2. Send a custom amount via PayPal (paul@faheycounseling.com) or Venmo (@catholicthirdspace)

Register Here!

I’m looking forward to having you in the workshop!

All of Marco’s observations about this podcast are excellent.

To add a theological critique: Pine seems to separate the “people in the Church” from “the Church” so much that he almost speaks about the Church in a dualistic sense as if a pure and holy “real Church” exists apart from the actual persons who form the People of God. It feels platonic, as if there’s a perfect form of Church separate from the real baptized people.

The discussion also brought to mind a reflection I wrote a year and a half ago titled, The Less Presentable Parts Also Belong. And I wanted to reshare it.

encouraged me to also share an update of how the past year has been since I first published it. In some real ways, not much has changed. I still feel uncomfortable in Catholic spaces, especially “Rah-Rah Catholicism!” spaces. But I also feel less alienated from the Church. Being in a new diocese that’s less ideologically entrenched has helped, so has attending a Hispanic parish more concerned about raising money for their St. Vincent de Paul society than they are in fighting a perceived culture war.

My community of people with levels of ambivalence with Catholicism has also grown. Gratefully, more of those friendships are local and not only virtual. This past winter, for the first time in probably five years, I found myself looking forward to going to Mass—not just tolerating it, not just going out of a sense of obligation to my family, and not dreading it.

My relationship with the Church continues to evolve. But that means it’s still alive. “To live is to change,” as St. John Henry Newman said.

Here’s the repost of my reflection.

During one of my spiritual abuse workshops last year, a question was raised about if it’s better to say “abused by the Church” rather than “abused in the Church” or “abuse by individuals in the Church.”

In my writing and speaking, I find myself using all of these phrases at different times. I think each of them reveal truth, both about survivors experiences and about the nature of the Church.

Some survivors of spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church describe their experience as being abused by the Church. This is because of their beliefs about the sacramental identity and authority of the priest who harmed them and the bishop who betrayed them. They believe that the clerics who abused them represented and acted on behalf of Christ and the Church.

This isn’t an unreasonable belief. The Catechism teaches that the priest “is truly made like to [Christ] the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself” (CCC 1548). Further, spiritual abuse can cause an individual to believe that God and the Church condoned the abuse they suffered, or that God himself abused them (Fernández, 2022; Panchuk, 2018).

In short, survivors who describe their abuse as being harmed by the Church itself are expressing real aspects of the experience of spiritual abuse.

I’ve heard other survivors of spiritual abuse describe their experience as being harmed in the Church or by individuals in the Church. In other words, they go out of their way to distinguish the Church from the individuals who abused them.

Some survivors have said this because they believe that they themselves—as a baptized Christian—are the Church. They do not want their abuser, even if the abuser is a priest or bishop, to take that identity away from them. In fact, some survivors have explicitly said that they believe that Christ is closer to those who are oppressed by the powerful than he is to the religious leaders abusing their power.

And again, this is also perfectly reasonable. The Catechism says that baptism makes someone a part of the Body of Christ to such an extent that they are “other Christs” (Cf. CCC 1267 and 2782). Further, the Church teaches that Christ has a preferential love for the poor and oppressed and explicitly identifies himself with “the vulnerable, the most insignificant, the outcast, the oppressed, the discarded, the poor, the marginalized, the unlearned, the sick, and those who are downtrodden by the powerful” (Dignitas Infinita 12).

Personally, as someone who has been spiritually abused, I resonate with all of these descriptions and oscillate between them depending on the context or, honestly, what feels most significant for me that day.

All of that came to mind for me yesterday at Mass when I read the second reading from 1 Corinthians. There, St. Paul said:

“If a foot should say,
‘Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,’
it does not for this reason belong any less to the body.
Or if an ear should say,
‘Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body,’
it does not for this reason belong any less to the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?
If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?”

I’ve shared before about feeling increasing alienation in the Church. I often feel like the ear or the foot, the part that doesn’t belong because I no longer celebrate Catholicism like I used to, go to Catholic events like I used to, or even enjoy going to Mass like I used to. I look at the Catholic communities that once felt like home and say to myself, “I do not belong.”

Recently, I’ve only felt belonging when I’m with others who share about similar wounds and levels of disaffection with Catholicism. For example, after helping to facilitate Awake’s retreat for survivors of sexual abuse in the Church last summer, I wrote:

“Early in the weekend I shared some of my own struggles attending my home parish (or any Catholic parish). The abuse that has occurred in the Church—sexual, spiritual, or otherwise—feels like a giant crater in the middle of the church. Yet so often it feels like everyone is pretending it isn’t there. Going to Mass can feel like participating in a group pretending, a reenactment of the story of the Emperor with No Clothes. But at the retreat I was able to talk with others, pray with others, and be with others who see that crater, refuse to ignore it and walk around it, but who still desire faith and community.”

Another example of belonging came from a friend—someone whose Vocation and clothing were signs of Catholicism—who was visiting my home last year who candidly said, “Sometimes I just hate being around Catholics.” I can’t tell you how much of a consolation that was.

St. Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians was a validating reminder that yes, I do belong.

I belong to the Church, even when some of the other parts seem to be trying to push me out. The realities of harm and betrayal in the stories of survivors reveal the cancers that are in the Body, and this makes some of the other parts feel uncomfortable or threatened. St. Paul continues:

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you,’
nor again the head to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’
Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker
are all the more necessary,
and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable
we surround with greater honor,
and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety,
whereas our more presentable parts do not need this.
But God has so constructed the body
as to give greater honor to a part that is without it,
so that there may be no division in the body,
but that the parts may have the same concern for one another.”

However, St. Paul also challenged me. I too at times want to cut off other parts of the body. Because the hands and eyes, those who are defensive or uncomfortable with survivors, are also a part of the Body.

They also belong.

While those parts often fail—often perpetuate the cancers of clericalism and abuse of power in the Church—they also belong to the Body. St. Paul is saying that the Body would be less without them. I would be less without them. Somehow, in some way, those parts also have something to teach me.

Sources cited:

• Fernández, S. (2022). Victims are not guilty! spiritual abuse and ecclesiastical responsibility. Religions (Basel, Switzerland ), 13(5), 427.

• Panchuk, M. (2018). The Shattered Spiritual Self: A Philosophical Exploration of Religious Trauma. Res Philosophica, 95(3), 505-530.

Brad Jersak is the Dean of Theology & Culture at St. Stephen’s University in New Brunswick, Canada, and editor in chief of Clarion-Journal.com. He is also the author or coauthor of a number of nonfiction and fiction books, including the More Christlike series.

I first came across Brad’s work several years ago when a friend shared a video of his talk “The Gospel in Chairs.” I’ve watched it dozens of times since then and am still sharing it with others. It is one of the most compelling proclamations of the kerygma that I’ve ever heard.

Then a few years ago I read Brad’s book, “Out of the Embers: Faith After the Great Deconstruction.” The book was healing for me and helped me navigate my own struggles trying to exist in a Church that has harmed me and people I care about. It’s a book I’ve returned to often in my conversations with folks who are going through deconstruction or have been spiritually abused.

In this conversation, we talk about this book and discuss what it looks like to follow Jesus in the midst of suffering and trauma, even when the harm is coming from the Church.

I’m excited to share it with you again!

Two quick announcements before we jump into the episode!

First, Sarah Carter (from Pope Leo Weekly and Recovering Catholic) and I are doing a new project together, The Leo Seminar: a space where people could read Pope Leo’s actual words, in community, without an ideological agenda.

Sarah and I believe that striving for integrity is more important than having the right answers; dialogue and curiosity are more important than ideological purity; unity in diversity is more important than uniformity; “truth is not a territory to be defended, but a good to be shared” (Magnifica Humanitas 25); and “realities are greater than ideas” (Evangelii Gaudium231).

The Leo Seminar exists for anyone who wants to step into a process of collective study and discernment instead of consuming “hot takes.” In this seminar, you will spend twelve weeks digging into primary texts, guided discussion, and honestly wrestling with what Pope Leo is actually saying and where he’s leading the Church.

You won’t leave with a verdict handed to you, but you’ll have the opportunity to form your own conclusions in a community of people who take the questions as seriously as you do. People who are willing to undertake this kind of slow and serious formation will be agents of renewal in the Church, more equipped to proclaim the Gospel in the modern world.

The Leo Seminar is a small group online seminar starting on Friday, September 4 at 12:00 (ET). The group will meet every week for 90 minutes, for 12 consecutive weeks. Sarah and Paul will lead each discussion, and we will have occasional special guests, including Pope Leo’s biographer, Elise Ann Allen!

Registration closes this Friday.

For more details, visit catholicthirdspace.com

Also, registration is still open for my next round of spiritual abuse workshops. This is an online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

This workshop is for:

• Individuals trying to better understand their experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church

• Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience

• Therapists or spiritual directors working with clients who have been spiritually abused

This workshop will help you:

• Recognize and prevent spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Church

• Know the symptoms of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and moral injury

• Better understand and respond to abusive systems in the Church

This is a live online workshop that meets in a small group over the course of five weeks. The workshops begin next week, so sign up now!

Visit catholicthirdspace.com for more details.

LINKS:

The Leo Seminar
https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/enrollment-is-open-for-the-leo-seminar

Spiritual Abuse Workshop
https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/spiritual-abuse-workshop-34d

Out of the Embers: Faith After the Great Deconstruction
https://www.amazon.com/Out-Embers-Faith-After-Deconstruction/dp/1641238887

The Gospel in Chairs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_aALyEKh_A

Brad’s Substack
https://bradleyjersak124315.substack.com/

ABOUT THIRD SPACE: Third Space is the podcast for those who see the beauty of Catholicism, as well as the ugliness, who have experienced real harm AND real grace in the Church. Every episode I will have conversations with guests about the good and the bad in the Church—avoiding easy answers or black & white fundamentalism—in order to hold on to all that is true.

SUPPORT THIS SHOW: Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. All of your support directly helps my family and allows me to continue working on projects like this podcast, the newsletter, as well as resources about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

www.catholicthirdspace.com

LIVING SOLIDARITY: Living Solidarity upholds the infinite dignity of every person by addressing the reality of spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Catholic Church. Living Solidarity helps to build a Church of integrity and solidarity by accompanying survivors of spiritual abuse with trauma-informed life coaching; equipping Church leaders and institutions to confront systemic harm; and creating resources grounded in psychological research and the Church’s Social Teaching. Visit livingsolidarity.com to learn more, to connect with Paul, to schedule individual life coaching, or to invite Paul to speak or consult with your community, parish, seminary, or diocese.

ABOUT THE HOST: Paul Fahey is currently a professional counselor, retreat leader, and the host of the Third Space podcast. He provides counseling for those who have been spiritually abused and creates resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against all forms of abuse. He previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. Paul Fahey lives in Michigan with his wife, Kristina, and their five kids.

This piece of Scripture comes to mind when I think about the Church’s understanding of the dignity and sanctity of the individual’s conscience. There’s a beautiful passage in Una Caro that highlights this:

“There is a dimension of the person that, being the deepest, transcends all others—including the bodily dimension—and where only God can enter without violating it. There is a core of the human being in which only the infinite love of God can reign.

Only he has that all-powerful and creative love that makes the very existence of freedom possible. Therefore, when he touches a person’s core, he can only strengthen, increase, and elevate it in its very nature, with no possibility of mutilating, dominating, weakening, or overriding it. Indeed, ‘God alone enters into (illabitur) the soul.’ Only God can enter into the depths of the human heart, for only he can do so without disturbing the person’s freedom and identity.

Through grace, God becomes fully close, entering into the innermost depths of the human being that he alone can reach. Thus, ‘no one but God can presume to take over the deepest and most personal core of the loved one”” (Una Caro 127).

Now, Una Caro is the 2025 document from Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith about the unitive aspect of marriage. And that context is important. What the Church is teaching here is that even in the profound personal and sacramental unity of marriage, there always remains a secret sanctuary within a person where they are alone with God. And if my spouse has no right to enter this sanctuary, then clearly nobody else can claim that right.

This most holy place is a person’s conscience. “Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths” (Gaudium et Spes 16).

But what happens when someone who I trust as a spiritual authority—a priest, parent, spiritual director, therapist, minister, or spouse—invades that sanctuary by speaking on behalf of God into my life? What happens when this trusted authority speaks so definitively about God’s will for my life that I can’t discern their voice from the voice of God in my conscience?

This is the experience of abuse of conscience. Fr. Samuel Fernández, writes:

“The victims [of abuse of conscience] then struggle between what their own conscience dictates and what is dictated by the representative of the Church who has invaded their conscience and supplanted God. This situation creates a severe personal dissociation. …On the one hand, it provokes distrust in oneself and, therefore, insecurity in one’s own judgments. On the other hand, it incites a deformation of the face of God, which is confused with the abuse and with the abuser.”

This kind of spiritual abuse can be so common within the Church that at times it’s believed to be the orthodox way of practicing the faith.

If you would like to learn more about spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience, I’d like to invite you to my online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Through the Scriptures, Tradition, liturgies, and devotions, people can encounter the living Christ and experience his love, healing, and freedom.

But what happens when the women and men in the Church who are tasked with teaching doctrine, preaching God’s word, or presiding over the sacraments, do so with carelessness or coercion? What harm is done when the place of healing becomes a source of harm?

I’m a professional counselor who previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. I accompany those who have been spiritually abused and create resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against abuse.

Join me for an online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Register Here!

This workshop is for:

• Individuals trying to better understand their experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church

• Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience

• Therapists or spiritual directors working with clients who have been spiritually abused

This workshop will help you:

• Recognize and prevent spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Church

• Know the symptoms of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and moral injury

• Better understand and respond to abusive systems in the Church

Register Here!

Details:

This is five-part live workshop that will be held virtually. I’m running two workshops with day or evening sessions to accommodate different time zones and work schedules.

Groups will have between 5 and 12 participants and space will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Your space in the workshop will not be held until payment is received

• Group 1 - Wednesdays, 8:00-10:00am (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7

• Group 2 - Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00pm (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7

Register Here!

Price:

This five-week workshop is $400.

Making this workshop available to anyone who can benefit from it is important to me, but it’s also an essential part of my family’s income. I don’t want inability to pay to be obstacle for you to participate. So if you can’t pay the full $400, please pay what you can (even if it’s only $10). And if you can pay more than $400, please consider giving more to offset the cost.

And if you can’t attend this workshop, but you are grateful that resources like this exist, please consider financially supporting it.

How to Pay:

1. Pay $400 with a credit card here: https://buy.stripe.com/fZu8wOaEy48ogpU8XZdIA01

2. Send a custom amount via PayPal (paul@faheycounseling.com) or Venmo (@catholicthirdspace)

Register Here!

I’m looking forward to having you in the workshop!

For the bulk of Dilexi Te, Pope Leo surveys Scripture, the Church Fathers, centuries of Saintly witnesses, the Church’s body of social teaching, Vatican II, and post-councilar papal documents to demonstrate how the character of God and the nature of the Church is expressed in the doctrine of the preferential option for the poor.

In this theology, God isn’t a judge demanding that the debt of humanity’s sin be paid, such that Christ has to appease or protect us from an angry father. Not at all. Rather, “God is merciful love” (DT 16), a Father “who is always concerned for the needs of his children, especially those in greatest need” (DT 8). God is a liberator, who looks at humanity with “a merciful gaze and a heart full of love” and desires to “free us from slavery, fear, sin and the power of death” (DT 16). Pope Leo says:

“Precisely in order to share the limitations and fragility of our human nature, he himself became poor and was born in the flesh like us. We came to know him in the smallness of a child laid in a manger and in the extreme humiliation of the cross, where he shared our radical poverty, which is death” (DT 16).

Christ, Leo goes on to say, “reveals himself as the One who, in the here and now of history, comes to bring about God’s loving closeness, which is above all a work of liberation for those who are prisoners of evil, and for the weak and the poor” (DT 21). And from this revelation of God, Leo expresses the identity and mission of the Church:

“Wanting to inaugurate a kingdom of justice, fraternity and solidarity, God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest” (DT 16).

And here, in this understanding of God and the Church—shaped by Vatican II and Latin America, and rooted in the preferential option for the poor—is where Dilexi Te says something new and provocative, at least to the ears of American Catholics.

A Church Without Enemies

Leo proclaims that “since apostolic times, the Church has seen the liberation of the oppressed as a sign of the Kingdom of God” (DT 59) and “the mission of the Church, when she is faithful to her Lord, is at all times to proclaim liberation” (DT 61).

The Church needs to be “simpler and more sober,” rejecting “worldly powers” and “more closely resembling her Lord” (DT 84) who “became poor, and was always close to the poor and the outcast” (DT 111). A Church that does not only see the poor and marginalized as “just people to be helped” but “the sacramental presence of the Lord” (DT 44).

Pope Leo is calling the Church to embrace the preferential option for the poor, not by wrestling for spaces in the halls of political power, but by identifying with the most marginalized in our society. Dilexi Te is a prophetic call for the Church to stop getting defensive when the world mocks us, but to spend our energy defending the basic human rights of migrants. It’s a call to stop using the pretense of religious liberty to protect clerics and mistreat lay employees. It’s a call for our parishes and schools to be radically inclusive (cf. DT 72, 99), not fortresses of purity and self-protection. It’s a call to stop hiding behind lawyers to shield ourselves from lawsuits, acting as if abuse survivors were enemies and not the sacramental presence of Christ.

In Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV picks up the mantle of Pope Francis and says, without any doubt, that we must be a poor Church for the poor. He is calling for us to be a Church without enemies. “The Church that the world needs today,” Leo proclaims, is “a Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love” (DT 120).

There’s More!

Would you like to learn more about Pope Leo’s vision of the Church? Would you like to dive into Pope Leo’s exhortations, catechesis, and encyclicals with a small group of people invested in both learning from and being formed by what the Holy Father is teaching us today? and I invite you to join the Leo Seminary: a space where people could read Pope Leo’s actual words, in community, without an ideological agenda.

Sarah and I believe that striving for integrity is more important than having the right answers; dialogue and curiosity are more important than ideological purity; unity in diversity is more important than uniformity; “truth is not a territory to be defended, but a good to be shared” (Magnifica Humanitas 25); and “realities are greater than ideas” (Evangelii Gaudium231).

The Leo Seminar exists for anyone who wants to step into a process of collective study and discernment instead of consuming “hot takes.” In this seminar, you will spend twelve weeks digging into primary texts, guided discussion, and honestly wrestling with what Pope Leo is actually saying and where he’s leading the Church.

You won’t leave with a verdict handed to you, but you’ll have the opportunity to form your own conclusions in a community of people who take the questions as seriously as you do. People who are willing to undertake this kind of slow and serious formation will be agents of renewal in the Church, more equipped to proclaim the Gospel in the modern world.

Registration closes in 10 days! So sign up now!

About The Leo Seminar

The Leo Seminar is a small group online seminar starting on Friday, September 4 at 12:00 (ET). The group will meet every week for 90 minutes, for 12 consecutive weeks. Sarah and Paul will lead each discussion, and we will have occasional special guests, including Pope Leo’s biographer, Elise Ann Allen!

Who The Leo Seminar for:

• Catechists

• Teachers

• Clergy

• Parents

• Catholics

• Non-Catholics

• Anyone who wants to better understand the mind and teaching of our new pope

What we’ll be reading together:

• Pope Leo XIV: The Biography by Elise Ann Allen

• Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis (programmatic document that has set the stage for Leo’s pontificate)

• Magnifica Humanitas (On artificial intelligence)

• Dilexi Te (On love for the poor)

• In Unitate Fidei (On Christian unity)

• Other selected homilies and addresses form Pope Leo

What you’ll get when you enroll:

• A copy of Pope Leo XIV: The Biography by Elise Ann Allen sent directly to your mailing address

• A 60-minute, live, “closed-door” Q&A with the first and only person to be granted an exclusive interview with Pope Leo XIV, Elise Ann Allen

• The Leo Seminar Reader, a digital reading packet designed for ease of use and note taking

• Twelve 90-minute sessions, with in-depth analysis and discussion

• A community to study and discuss with, and opportunities to stay connected after the seminar ends

When we’ll meet:

• Every Friday from September 4 - November 20

• All meetings from 12:00-1:30 p.m. ET

Cost:

• $1,200 (with options to pay in installments via Stripe)

*The deadline for registration is August 28

Enroll Now!

About the hosts:

Paul Fahey is a professional counselor, writer, retreat leader, and podcaster. He previously worked as a lay minister and catechist in the Catholic Church. He has an undergraduate degree in Theology and a MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. He provides counseling for those who have been spiritually abused and creates resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against abuse.

Paul created the Third Space podcast, the Pope Francis Generation podcast, and co-founded Where Peter Is. He has published articles and resources about spiritual abuse, Catholic social teaching, and pastoral accompaniment.

Paul lives in SW Michigan with his wife and five kids. His favorite saints include Maximilian Kolbe, Dorothy Day, Óscar Romero, Mark Ji Tianxiang, Josephine Bakhita, and the Ulma Family.

Sarah Carter is a writer, teacher, and theologian with a masters degree in Theology and over a decade of experience working in Catholic institutions, including as a policy ghost writer for the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Sarah’s work has been focused on an integrated approach to Catholic social teaching and the intellectual formation of both lay and ordained leaders. She has taught several courses and seminars in Catholic theology at both the high school and university level.

Sarah lives in the Twin Cities metro area with her husband and three children. In her spare time she enjoys knitting, exercise, and reading.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be knowledgeable about the pope and Catholic theology to enroll in this seminar? No. If you want to read and discuss Pope Leo XIV in community with other people, you are welcome to enroll no matter your level of familiarity with Catholicism or your educational background.

Is this seminar for Catholics only? Again, nope! Anyone interested can enroll. In fact, we’d love to welcome some non-Catholics into the conversation!

What if I don’t like the pope or agree with what he’s saying? We don’t see our role as trying to defend everything the pope has ever said or taught. We’re here to help participants engage honestly with Pope Leo’s teachings and his vision, regardless of whether they agree with it or not. In other words, our goal is for you to know what Leo is saying and where he is guiding the Church–whether he’s right or wrong, we leave to you to judge.

Will you offer discounts? At this time, we cannot offer discounts on The Leo Seminar. Stripe (the payment platform) does offer pay-over-time options. I’m always trying to balance my desire to make my resources available to anyone while also providing for my family. The income from this seminar helps allow me to continue to offer my Spiritual Abuse Workshop at little-to-no cost for those who can’t afford it.

How many spots are available in this seminar? Since we want this to be a small, discussion-based group, we have decided to cap The Leo Seminar at 15 participants.

Enroll Now!

Back in 2024 I was invited to be a speaker for a Courageous Conversation event hosted by Awake, A Catholic non-profit whose mission “is to awaken our community to the full reality of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, work for transformation, and foster healing for all who have been wounded.”

Courageous Conversations is thier online speaker series designed to “build community, deepen understanding, encourage conversation, and inspire personal action in response to the complex issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.”

The topic of this conversation was titled “Cultivating a Gospel Response to Trauma” and was about how to foster trauma-informed church communities and spaces “that are sensitive to the needs of survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic leaders.”

I was humbled and honored to be asked to participate in this event. Especially alongside the late Pete Singer, from the organization GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), and the author of the excellent article: Toward a More Trauma-Informed Church: Equipping Faith Communities to Prevent and Respond to Abuse.

Making the Church more trauma-informed is not only important in our pastoral care and evangelization efforts, but I believe having a preferential option for survivors of trauma is an essential aspect of our identity as Christians.

I’m excited to share it with you again!

Also, I just opened up registration for my next round of spiritual abuse workshops. This is an online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

This workshop is for:

• Individuals trying to better understand their experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church

• Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience

• Therapists or spiritual directors working with clients who have been spiritually abused

This workshop will help you:

• Recognize and prevent spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Church

• Know the symptoms of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and moral injury

• Better understand and respond to abusive systems in the Church

This is a live online workshop that meets in a small group over the course of five weeks, beginning in September.

Click here for more information: https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/spiritual-abuse-workshop-34d

LINKS:

Give to Awake
https://www.awakecommunity.org/donate

Courageous Conversations Video
https://www.awakecommunity.org/blog/courageous-conversation-makes-the-case-for-working-toward-a-trauma-sensitive-church

Toward a More Trauma-Informed Church: Equipping Faith Communities to Prevent and Respond to Abuse
https://currentsjournal.org/index.php/currents/article/view/444

Spiritual Abuse Workshop

https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/spiritual-abuse-workshop-34d

ABOUT THIRD SPACE: Third Space is the podcast for those who see the beauty of Catholicism, as well as the ugliness, who have experienced real harm AND real grace in the Church. Every episode I will have conversations with guests about the good and the bad in the Church—avoiding easy answers or black & white fundamentalism—in order to hold on to all that is true.

SUPPORT THIS SHOW: Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. All of your support directly helps my family and allows me to continue working on projects like this podcast, the newsletter, as well as resources about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

www.catholicthirdspace.com

LIVING SOLIDARITY: Living Solidarity upholds the infinite dignity of every person by addressing the reality of spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Catholic Church. Living Solidarity helps to build a Church of integrity and solidarity by accompanying survivors of spiritual abuse with trauma-informed life coaching; equipping Church leaders and institutions to confront systemic harm; and creating resources grounded in psychological research and the Church’s Social Teaching. Visit livingsolidarity.com to learn more, to connect with Paul, to schedule individual life coaching, or to invite Paul to speak or consult with your community, parish, seminary, or diocese.

ABOUT THE HOST: Paul Fahey is currently a professional counselor, retreat leader, and the host of the Third Space podcast. He provides counseling for those who have been spiritually abused and creates resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against all forms of abuse. He previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. Paul Fahey lives in Michigan with his wife, Kristina, and their five kids.

The Leo Seminar

The Leo Seminar is a small group online seminar starting on Friday, September 4 at 12:00 (ET). The group will meet every week for 90 minutes, for 12 consecutive weeks. Sarah and Paul will lead each discussion, and we will have occasional special guests, including Pope Leo’s biographer, Elise Ann Allen!

Who The Leo Seminar for:

• Catechists

• Teachers

• Clergy

• Parents

• Catholics

• Non-Catholics

• Anyone who wants to better understand the mind and teaching of our new pope

What we’ll be reading together:

• Pope Leo XIV: The Biography by Elise Ann Allen

• Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis (programmatic document that has set the stage for Leo’s pontificate)

• Magnifica Humanitas (On artificial intelligence)

• Dilexi Te (On love for the poor)

• In Unitate Fidei (On Christian unity)

• Other selected homilies and addresses form Pope Leo

What you’ll get when you enroll:

• A copy of Pope Leo XIV: The Biography by Elise Ann Allen sent directly to your mailing address

• A 60-minute, live, “closed-door” Q&A with the first and only person to be granted an exclusive interview with Pope Leo XIV, Elise Ann Allen

• The Leo Seminar Reader, a digital reading packet designed for ease of use and note taking

• Twelve 90-minute sessions, with in-depth analysis and discussion

• A community to study and discuss with, and opportunities to stay connected after the seminar ends

When we’ll meet:

• Every Friday from September 4 - November 20

• All meetings from 12:00-1:30 p.m. ET

Cost:

• $1,200 (with options to pay in installments via Stripe)

Enroll Now!

For many years, really up until a decade ago, I believed that good Catholics must, in practice, be single issue voters. I also believed there were “five non-negotiable issues,” and that voting for a candidate who supported any of them was a sin. All of this was presented to me as Church teaching.

But it isn’t.

In reality, the Church teaches against single issue voting:

“The Christian faith is an integral unity, and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church’s social doctrine does not exhaust one’s responsibility towards the common good” (CDF doctrinal note, The Participation of Catholics in Political Life, 2002).

And the list of “non-negotiable issues” is much longer than five (and isn’t nearly as partisan). Pope John Paul II offered this not-exclusive list in Veritatis Splendor:

• any kind of homicide

• genocide

• abortion

• euthanasia

• voluntary suicide

• mutilation

• physical and mental torture

• attempts to coerce the spirit

• subhuman living conditions

• arbitrary imprisonment

• deportation

• slavery

• prostitution

• trafficking in women and children

• degrading conditions of work which treat labourers as mere instruments of profit, and not as free responsible persons

Further, the Church acknowledges that someone’s well formed conscience can lead them to voting for a candidate despite their support for some intrinsic evil, especially when there are other grave issues on the line and/or all candidates support intrinsic evils. This is from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document on voting:

“There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position even on policies promoting an intrinsically evil act may reasonably decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil.

When all candidates hold a position that promotes an intrinsically evil act, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 35-36).

All of that to say, for many years I was coerced into believing (look above, that’s on John Paul II’s list of non-negotiables) that I must vote for the Republican candidate and that voting for a Democrat was a sin. It was only through reading the Church’s actual social teaching around ten years ago that my conscience was freed and able to be formed more holistically by the Gospel.

One of my goals in sharing my thoughts about this here is to help you experience that freedom as well.

As I understand and experience the world in 2026 (”reading the signs of the times”) while also being attentive to what the popes are telling me are important, there are three issues being discussed by candidates that I’m weighing heavily as I vote, specifically in some of the federal positions up for grabs this election year. Those issues are:

• Ending the Iran War

• Abolishing ICE and dramatically reforming immigration enforcement

• Implementing universal healthcare

In all of these issues, while politics is the art of the possible, I, rightly or wrongly, remain an idealist. And in the primary, I tend to lean into that idealism more.

Subscribe now

Here’s a long, but far from complete, list of passages from Pope Leo, Pope Francis, and other church document that have helped to shape my conscience on these issues.

-War in Iran-

Pope Leo, June 6, 2026

I believe this has already been made very clear: in Iran, the criteria for a just war are not present.

Pope Leo, Magnifica Humanitas 192

Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the “just war” theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated. Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness. The use of force, violence and weapons reflects a relational poverty that always has disastrous consequences for civilian populations.

Pope Franci, Fratelli Tutti 261

Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil. Let us not remain mired in theoretical discussions, but touch the wounded flesh of the victims. Let us look once more at all those civilians whose killing was considered “collateral damage”. Let us ask the victims themselves. Let us think of the refugees and displaced, those who suffered the effects of atomic radiation or chemical attacks, the mothers who lost their children, and the boys and girls maimed or deprived of their childhood. Let us hear the true stories of these victims of violence, look at reality through their eyes, and listen with an open heart to the stories they tell. In this way, we will be able to grasp the abyss of evil at the heart of war. Nor will it trouble us to be deemed naive for choosing peace.

Pope Leo, January 2026

I would like to draw particular attention to the importance of international humanitarian law. Compliance with this cannot depend on mere circumstances and military or strategic interests. Humanitarian law, in addition to guaranteeing a minimum of humanity during the ravages of war, is a commitment that States have made. Such law must always prevail over the ambitions of belligerents, in order to mitigate the devastating effects of war, also with a view to reconstruction. We cannot ignore that the destruction of hospitals, energy infrastructure, homes and places essential to daily life constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law. The Holy See firmly reiterates its condemnation of any form of involvement of civilians in military operations. It likewise hopes that the international community will remember that the protection of the principle of the inviolability of human dignity and the sanctity of life always counts for more than any mere national interest.

Pope Francis, March 2022

Why, then, wage war on each other over conflicts that we should resolve by talking to each other as fellow people? Why not rather join our forces and resources to fight together the real battles of civilization: the fight against hunger and thirst; the fight against disease and epidemics; the fight against today’s poverty and slavery? Why? Certain choices are not neutral: to allocate a large part of spending to weapons means taking it away from something else, which means continuing to take it away yet again, from those who lack the basic necessities. And this is a scandal: spending on weapons....We feel it more because it is closer, but there are continuous wars in Africa, in the Middle East, in Asia. This is serious. We need to create the awareness that continuing to spend on weapons sullies the soul, sullies the heart, sullies humanity. What is the use of solemnly committing ourselves all together, on an international level, in campaigns against poverty, against hunger, against the degradation of the planet, if we then fall back into the old vice of war, into the old strategy of the power of armaments, which takes everything and everyone backwards? A war always takes you backwards, always. We walk backwards. We will have to start over again.

-Treatment of Migrants-

Pope Leo, Magnifica Humanitas 81

A litmus test for social justice today is the treatment of migrants, refugees and those forced to move due to poverty, violence, climate change and environmental disasters. The way a society treats them reveals whether its sense of justice is driven by fear or by the spirit of fraternity. Pope Francis urged us to see migrants not simply as a problem to be managed, but as a living image of the People of God on the move. They are people with dignity, resources and dreams, who have the right to be treated with respect and to ask to become active members of the societies that welcome them. Social justice in this area entails at least two complementary commitments. On the one hand, this means protecting the rightful hopes of those forced to leave by ensuring safe and legal routes, dignified conditions for receiving them, and genuine pathways to integration. On the other hand, it means promoting the right to remain in one’s homeland in peace and security by addressing the root causes that force people to migrate, including those linked to economic injustices and the climate crisis. When these rights are respected, migration can become an opportunity for encounter and mutual enrichment among peoples.

Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti 129-130

Complex challenges arise when our neighbour happens to be an immigrant. Ideally, unnecessary migration ought to be avoided; this entails creating in countries of origin the conditions needed for a dignified life and integral development. Yet until substantial progress is made in achieving this goal, we are obliged to respect the right of all individuals to find a place that meets their basic needs and those of their families, and where they can find personal fulfilment. Our response to the arrival of migrating persons can be summarized by four words: welcome, protect, promote and integrate. For “it is not a case of implementing welfare programmes from the top down, but rather of undertaking a journey together, through these four actions, in order to build cities and countries that, while preserving their respective cultural and religious identity, are open to differences and know how to promote them in the spirit of human fraternity”.

This implies taking certain indispensable steps, especially in response to those who are fleeing grave humanitarian crises. As examples, we may cite: increasing and simplifying the granting of visas; adopting programmes of individual and community sponsorship; opening humanitarian corridors for the most vulnerable refugees; providing suitable and dignified housing; guaranteeing personal security and access to basic services; ensuring adequate consular assistance and the right to retain personal identity documents; equitable access to the justice system; the possibility of opening bank accounts and the guarantee of the minimum needed to survive; freedom of movement and the possibility of employment; protecting minors and ensuring their regular access to education; providing for programmes of temporary guardianship or shelter; guaranteeing religious freedom; promoting integration into society; supporting the reuniting of families; and preparing local communities for the process of integration.

-Universal Healthcare-

Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris 11

But first We must speak of man’s rights. Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of illhealth; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2288

Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good. Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church 166

The demands of the common good are dependent on the social conditions of each historical period and are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights. These demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the organization of the State’s powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights: food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation, basic health care, the freedom of communication and expression, and the protection of religious freedom.

Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti 109

Some people are born into economically stable families, receive a fine education, grow up well nourished, or naturally possess great talent. They will certainly not need a proactive state; they need only claim their freedom. Yet the same rule clearly does not apply to a disabled person, to someone born in dire poverty, to those lacking a good education and with little access to adequate health care. If a society is governed primarily by the criteria of market freedom and efficiency, there is no place for such persons, and fraternity will remain just another vague ideal.

But many Catholics today feel a sense of homelessness in their own Church. We believe that Catholicism ought to have something urgent and vital to say to us and to the modern world, but it often seems that all that’s being offered are partisan camps. While each camp claims to speak for the Church, they often speak with their own agenda. Rather than the expansive and liberating love of Jesus, what’s experienced is the confines of an ideology. And few sources offer the honest, unhurried, and unfearful engagement that helps a person listen carefully, think deeply, and discern well.

and I know this homeless feeling well and, in our own ways, have experienced the frustration and isolation that comes with it. But something stirred in us when Pope Leo XIV called the whole Church to a re-discernment of Vatican II and what it means to be the Church in the modern world today. That’s the kind of faith conversations we wanted to have and to invite others into.

We started with our Leo Live series that followed Pope Leo’s ongoing catechesis on Vatican II. But we wanted something with more depth and intentionality. So—with Sarah’s academic background in theology and Catholic social teaching and Paul’s catechetical and mental-health expertise—we created The Leo Seminar: a space where people could read Pope Leo’s actual words, in community, without an ideological agenda.

Sarah and I believe that striving for integrity is more important than having the right answers; dialogue and curiosity are more important than ideological purity; unity in diversity is more important than uniformity; “truth is not a territory to be defended, but a good to be shared” (Magnifica Humanitas 25); and “realities are greater than ideas” (Evangelii Gaudium231).

The Leo Seminar exists for anyone who wants to step into a process of collective study and discernment instead of consuming “hot takes.” In this seminar, you will spend twelve weeks digging into primary texts, guided discussion, and honestly wrestling with what Pope Leo is actually saying and where he’s leading the Church.

You won’t leave with a verdict handed to you, but you’ll have the opportunity to form your own conclusions in a community of people who take the questions as seriously as you do. People who are willing to undertake this kind of slow and serious formation will be agents of renewal in the Church, more equipped to proclaim the Gospel in the modern world.

About The Leo Seminar

The Leo Seminar is a small group online seminar starting on Friday, September 4 at 12:00 (ET). The group will meet every week for 90 minutes, for 12 consecutive weeks. Sarah and Paul will lead each discussion, and we will have occasional special guests, including Pope Leo’s biographer, Elise Ann Allen!

Who The Leo Seminar for:

• Catechists

• Teachers

• Clergy

• Parents

• Catholics

• Non-Catholics

• Anyone who wants to better understand the mind and teaching of our new pope

What we’ll be reading together:

• Pope Leo XIV: The Biography by Elise Ann Allen

• Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis (programmatic document that has set the stage for Leo’s pontificate)

• Magnifica Humanitas (On artificial intelligence)

• Dilexi Te (On love for the poor)

• In Unitate Fidei (On Christian unity)

• Other selected homilies and addresses form Pope Leo

What you’ll get when you enroll:

• A copy of Pope Leo XIV: The Biography by Elise Ann Allen sent directly to your mailing address

• A 60-minute, live, “closed-door” Q&A with the first and only person to be granted an exclusive interview with Pope Leo XIV, Elise Ann Allen

• The Leo Seminar Reader, a digital reading packet designed for ease of use and note taking

• Twelve 90-minute sessions, with in-depth analysis and discussion

• A community to study and discuss with, and opportunities to stay connected after the seminar ends

When we’ll meet:

• Every Friday from September 4 - November 20

• All meetings from 12:00-1:30 p.m. ET

Cost:

• $1,200 (with options to pay in installments via Stripe)

Enroll Now!

About the hosts:

Paul Fahey is a professional counselor, writer, retreat leader, and podcaster. He previously worked as a lay minister and catechist in the Catholic Church. He has an undergraduate degree in Theology and a MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. He provides counseling for those who have been spiritually abused and creates resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against abuse.

Paul created the Third Space podcast, the Pope Francis Generation podcast, and co-founded Where Peter Is. He has published articles and resources about spiritual abuse, Catholic social teaching, and pastoral accompaniment.

Paul lives in SW Michigan with his wife and five kids. His favorite saints include Maximilian Kolbe, Dorothy Day, Óscar Romero, Mark Ji Tianxiang, Josephine Bakhita, and the Ulma Family.

Sarah Carter is a writer, teacher, and theologian with a masters degree in Theology and over a decade of experience working in Catholic institutions, including as a policy ghost writer for the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Sarah’s work has been focused on an integrated approach to Catholic social teaching and the intellectual formation of both lay and ordained leaders. She has taught several courses and seminars in Catholic theology at both the high school and university level.

Sarah lives in the Twin Cities metro area with her husband and three children. In her spare time she enjoys knitting, exercise, and reading.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be knowledgeable about the pope and Catholic theology to enroll in this seminar? No. If you want to read and discuss Pope Leo XIV in community with other people, you are welcome to enroll no matter your level of familiarity with Catholicism or your educational background.

Is this seminar for Catholics only? Again, nope! Anyone interested can enroll. In fact, we’d love to welcome some non-Catholics into the conversation!

What if I don’t like the pope or agree with what he’s saying? We don’t see our role as trying to defend everything the pope has ever said or taught. We’re here to help participants engage honestly with Pope Leo’s teachings and his vision, regardless of whether they agree with it or not. In other words, our goal is for you to know what Leo is saying and where he is guiding the Church–whether he’s right or wrong, we leave to you to judge.

Will you offer discounts? At this time, we cannot offer discounts on The Leo Seminar. Stripe (the payment platform) does offer pay-over-time options. I’m always trying to balance my desire to make my resources available to anyone while also providing for my family. The income from this seminar helps allow me to continue to offer my Spiritual Abuse Workshop at little-to-no cost for those who can’t afford it.

How many spots are available in this seminar? Since we want this to be a small, discussion-based group, we have decided to cap The Leo Seminar at 15 participants.

Enroll Now!

I’m excited to share it with you again!

Also, I just opened up registration for my next round of spiritual abuse workshops. This is an online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

This workshop is for:

• Individuals trying to better understand their experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church

• Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience

• Therapists or spiritual directors working with clients who have been spiritually abused

This workshop will help you:

• Recognize and prevent spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Church

• Know the symptoms of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and moral injury

• Better understand and respond to abusive systems in the Church

This is a live online workshop that meets in a small group over the course of five weeks, beginning in September.

Visit for here more details: https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/spiritual-abuse-workshop-34d

Laura is a homeschooled wife and mother, who hails from Montana. She has a background in sacred music and is a self-published author. Laura operates the MissHappyCatholic youtube channel and co-founded the TradRecovery apostolate in 2023.

LINKS:

TradRecovery
https://www.tradrecovery.com

Spiritual Abuse Workshop
https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/spiritual-abuse-workshop-34d

ABOUT THIRD SPACE: Third Space is the podcast for those who see the beauty of Catholicism, as well as the ugliness, who have experienced real harm AND real grace in the Church. Every episode I will have conversations with guests about the good and the bad in the Church—avoiding easy answers or black & white fundamentalism—in order to hold on to all that is true.

SUPPORT THIS SHOW: Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. All of your support directly helps my family and allows me to continue working on projects like this podcast, the newsletter, as well as resources about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

www.catholicthirdspace.com

LIVING SOLIDARITY: Living Solidarity upholds the infinite dignity of every person by addressing the reality of spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Catholic Church. Living Solidarity helps to build a Church of integrity and solidarity by accompanying survivors of spiritual abuse with trauma-informed life coaching; equipping Church leaders and institutions to confront systemic harm; and creating resources grounded in psychological research and the Church’s Social Teaching. Visit livingsolidarity.com to learn more, to connect with Paul, to schedule individual life coaching, or to invite Paul to speak or consult with your community, parish, seminary, or diocese.

ABOUT THE HOST: Paul Fahey is currently a professional counselor, retreat leader, and the host of the Third Space podcast. He provides counseling for those who have been spiritually abused and creates resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against all forms of abuse. He previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. Paul Fahey lives in Michigan with his wife, Kristina, and their five kids.

Three passages to highlight:

1. NFP may be a godsend for some couples, but until its limitations are acknowledged, it will continue to harm families and individuals whose sufferings are often trivialized, denied, dismissed, or even romanticized by the church. At a time when the church is prioritizing such synodal values as listening and accompaniment, our religious leaders need to listen to the stories of those who have experienced NFP as damaging…

2. Contrary to the popular claim that NFP “divorce-proofs” your marriage, several women identified NFP as a factor contributing to marital breakdown. For some, this was caused by the erosion of intimacy. For others, Catholic sexual teaching provided an opportunity for a coercive partner to weaponize a woman’s fertility against her. Domestic violence advocates have long observed that pregnancy can be used to keep women isolated and dependent on controlling men—a dynamic recently highlighted in the Netflix docuseries Shiny Happy People. A method of family planning that can only be used if both partners are fully committed to avoiding pregnancy is a method that gives women in toxic marriages no control over their own fertility.

3. The church needs to revisit this issue in a way that more fully recognizes the burdens that NFP places on already burdened families. The problems cannot be reduced to “sin” or “weakness”: There are too many situations where responsible parenthood is a moral necessity, and NFP just doesn’t work. Catholics in those situations need solutions that don’t boil down to “suffer and pray.”

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis emphasized the principle that "reality is more important than ideas." And just a couple of months ago, Study Group 9 of the Synod released a report with guidance for the Church to discern challenging doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues. The heart of their report is expounding on that principle from Francis. One passage:

“The aim is to discern, with God’s grace and the contribution of all, 'what the Spirit is saying the churches' (Rev. 2:7), listening for what is true and good by attending to questions that not just theoretical but emerge from the reality of lived experience.”

In other words, the Holy Spirit also speaks through the lived experiences of the People of God, and we as a Church need to listen with curiosity, not defensiveness.

Again from Synod Group 9:

“It is not a matter of devising a strategy to hide real difficulties or of forcing the issue to assert a new doctrine: it is a matter of starting from the listening to experiences and fostering pastoral and ecclesial practices of mutual knowledge, collaboration, inclusion, and dialogue among believers. For it is only in this way – in the light of the lived and shared experience of the Gospel within the Christian community – that one can come to discern and promote the 'good' inscribed in experiences and practices.

What is at stake, as is clearly understood, is the overcoming of the theoretical model that derives praxis from a 'pre-package' doctrine, 'applying' general and abstract principles to the concrete and personal situations of life. The task, therefore, is to rediscover a fruitful circularity between theory and praxis, between thought and experience, recognising that theological reflection itself proceeds from the experiences of 'good inscribed in the sensus fidei fidelium.'”

This report is remarkable. Catholics who strive to be faithful to the Church but who have serious questions can find some reassurance that they are not sinful, broken, or ignorant because they have these doubts. Rome is opening up space for these discussions to be had.

NFP Article: https://uscatholic.org/articles/202307/is-catholic-rhetoric-about-nfp-telling-the-full-story/

Report from Study Group 9: https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/process/implementation/10workinggroups/final-reports/sg9/SG-9_Final-Report.pdf

In all of the teaching I’ve done about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church, I’ve contextualized spiritual abuse within the principles and framework of Catholic social doctrine. I do this because I believe the Church’s teaching on things like human dignity, freedom, conscience, subsidiarity, structures of sin, and solidarity can not only show how gravely harmful spiritual abuse is, but also how abuse of power is a systemic problem in the Church that we all can participate in or choose to disrupt. And by framing my presentation on abuse in the Church’s own teaching, I can show that I’m not trying to tear down the Church, but rather trying to help the Church live up to it’s own identity and mission.

In other words, Catholic Social Doctrine provides real tools for conceptualizing and responding to systemic abuse in the Church. So it’s both intellectually and emotionally affirming when the pope takes that exact same approach. In paragraph 89, Pope Leo says:

“Living out justice in the Church means purifying ecclesial relationships and structures from distortions that give rise to inequality, lack of transparency and abuse of power.”

Abuse of power isn’t a problem of a few bad apples; it’s a structural problem that requires structural renewal. And what are the steps of that renewal? Leo continues:

“In this regard, listening to the victims of spiritual, economic, institutional, sexual and power-based abuse, as well as abuses of conscience, is an integral part of a journey toward justice, which includes acknowledging the harm done, just reparation and taking steps to prevent it from happening again. Every power is at the service of communion and mission. All authority is at the service of the People of God.”

1. Listen to survivors of abuse

2. Acknowledge the harm we’ve done

3. Make just reparation

4. Take action to prevent the harm from happening again

These steps that Pope Leo expresses are a reiteration of the final document from the Synod on Synodality, which said:

“The Church needs to listen with special attention and sensitivity to the voices of victims and survivors of sexual, spiritual, economic, power and conscience abuse by members of the clergy or persons with Church appointments. Listening is a fundamental element of the path to healing, repentance, justice and reconciliation...the Church must acknowledge its own shortcomings. It must humbly ask for forgiveness, must care for victims, provide for preventative measures, and strive in the Lord to rebuild mutual trust” (2024 Final Synod Document, 55).

Further, these four steps are deeply connected to the three acts of the penitent in the Sacrament of Reconciliation: contrition, confession of sins, and satisfaction.

First, I examine my conscience and, if my heart is open, I experience a “sorrow of the soul” for the harm I’ve caused (CCC 1451).

Then I must acknowledge what I did, out loud, to another person. “Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible” (CCC 1455).

Finally, I must take real-world responsibility for the harm I caused. “Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as much” (CCC 1459).

Pope Leo, mirroring these personal acts of the penitent, is calling the Church as a whole, as an institution, as a Body, to listen to survivors of all types of abuse. We must let the stories of our brothers and sisters pierce our hearts and grieve our consciences. Then we (you, me, priests, bishops, every Catholic) must be willing to let go of our self-protection and transparently admit where the Church has caused harm. Finally, we must take (and must demand of our leaders) responsibility to make reparation for that harm however we can and do what is necessary to prevent it from happening again. And we must do this even if that means we sacrifice for it, even if it hurts, even if it costs the Church status, power, or security.

Pope Leo is clear that only when the Church lives with this kind of integrity will we “be able to bear credible witness to society” (MH 89).

If you want to learn more about spiritual abuse, you can join me for an online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

I’m a professional counselor who previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. I accompany those who have been spiritually abused and create resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against abuse.

This workshop is for:

• Individuals trying to better understand their experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church

• Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience

• Therapists or spiritual directors working with clients who have been spiritually abused

This workshop will help you:

• Recognize and prevent spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Church

• Know the symptoms of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and moral injury

• Better understand and respond to abusive systems in the Church
  

Register Here!

Details:

This is five-part live workshop that will be held virtually. I’m running two workshops with day or evening sessions to accommodate different time zones and work schedules.

Groups will have between 5 and 12 participants and space will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Your space in the workshop will not be held until payment is received

• Group 1 - Wednesdays, 8:00-10:00am (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7

• Group 2 - Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00pm (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7
  

Register Here!

Price:

This five-week workshop is $400.

Making this workshop available to anyone who can benefit from it is important to me, but it’s also an essential part of my family’s income. I don’t want inability to pay to be obstacle for you to participate. So if you can’t pay the full $400, please pay what you can (even if it’s only $10). And if you can pay more than $400, please consider giving more to offset the cost.

And if you can’t attend this workshop, but you are grateful that resources like this exist, please consider financially supporting it.

How to Pay:

1. Pay $400 with a credit card here: https://buy.stripe.com/fZu8wOaEy48ogpU8XZdIA01

2. Send a custom amount via PayPal (paul@faheycounseling.com) or Venmo (@catholicthirdspace)

Register Here!

I’m looking forward to having you in the workshop!

Through the Scriptures, Tradition, liturgies, and devotions, people can encounter the living Christ and experience his love, healing, and freedom.

But what happens when the women and men in the Church who are tasked with teaching doctrine, preaching God’s word, or presiding over the sacraments, do so with carelessness or coercion? What harm is done when the place of healing becomes a source of harm?

I’m a professional counselor who previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. I accompany those who have been spiritually abused and create resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against abuse.

Join me for an online workshop focused on recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Register Here!

This workshop is for:

• Individuals trying to better understand their experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church

• Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience

• Therapists or spiritual directors working with clients who have been spiritually abused

This workshop will help you:

• Recognize and prevent spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Church

• Know the symptoms of spiritual abuse, religious trauma, and moral injury

• Better understand and respond to abusive systems in the Church
  

  Register Here!

Details:

This is five-part live workshop that will be held virtually. I’m running two workshops with day or evening sessions to accommodate different time zones and work schedules.

Groups will have between 5 and 12 participants and space will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Your space in the workshop will not be held until payment is received

• Group 1 - Wednesdays, 8:00-10:00am (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7

• Group 2 - Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00pm (EST) | 9/2, 9/9, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7
  

  Register Here!

Price:

This five-week workshop is $400.

Making this workshop available to anyone who can benefit from it is important to me, but it’s also an essential part of my family’s income. I don’t want inability to pay to be obstacle for you to participate. So if you can’t pay the full $400, please pay what you can (even if it’s only $10). And if you can pay more than $400, please consider giving more to offset the cost.

And if you can’t attend this workshop, but you are grateful that resources like this exist, please consider financially supporting it.

How to Pay:

1. Pay $400 with a credit card here: https://buy.stripe.com/fZu8wOaEy48ogpU8XZdIA01

2. Send a custom amount via PayPal (paul@faheycounseling.com) or Venmo (@catholicthirdspace)

Register Here!

I’m looking forward to having you in the workshop!

In Paragraph 176 of that encyclical, the pope said:

“In the development of her doctrine, the Church has gradually come to a deeper awareness of the gravity of these issues. It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery.

In antiquity and the Middle Ages many individuals and even ecclesiastical institutions had slaves. Already in the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to requests from Sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, the enslavement of ‘infidels.’ [174] It was only in the nineteenth century that a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated, notably under Pope Leo XIII. [175]

This development offers a clear example of the Church’s growth in understanding the perennial truths of Revelation that she safeguards. Although there was not always consistency in practice — given that slavery was long tolerated before being unequivocally condemned — there has been a continuous affirmation throughout history of the dignity of every human being, created in the image of God, even if it took eighteen centuries for its full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognized.

This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached. [176] It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord. For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”

It’s hard to overstate how significant this paragraph is.

It feels meaningful that it’s the first American pope, himself a descendant of enslaved persons and of people who owned slaves, who is unequivocally apologizing for the Church’s horrific historical complicity in slavery. This stands in contrast to his namesake, Leo XII, who penned a revisionist history when he condemned slavery in 1888. Also, this paragraph is, to my knowledge, the most authoritative magisterial teaching to date that states that doctrine can, and has, developed to the point of apparent reversal. Further, Pope Leo also indicates that the Church delaying development can be profoundly unjust.

And all of this connects to my conversation nearly two years ago with Fr. Chris Kellerman SJ about his book, “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”

In that conversation he presented a brief history of the Church’s involvement with, and teachings about, slavery. Fr. Chris also responded to still repeated misconceptions and revisionist histories about the Church’s participation in the slave trade. Finally, we talked about how this relates to the priest abuse crisis and how confronting the evils in the Church impacts our own faith.

I’m excited to share it with you again!

Also, I apologize for the audio quality of this episode, I didn’t realize I was using the wrong microphone until after the recording was over.

Fr. Chris Kellerman, SJ, is Secretary of Justice and Ecology for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in Washington, D.C, where he oversees the U.S. government relations and legislative advocacy operations of the Jesuits. Originally from Arlington, TX, he studied at Texas Tech University, the University of Dallas, and Regis College at the University of Toronto. He is the author of All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.

LINKS:

All Oppression Shall Cease : A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church

https://orbisbooks.com/products/all-opression-shall-cease-a-history-of-slavery-abolitionism-and-the-catholic-church

Alessandra Harris - The Truth about the Catholic Church & Slavery with Chris Kellerman, SJ

Navigating growth and development in a living tradition

https://wherepeteris.com/navigating-growth-and-development-in-a-living-tradition/

ABOUT THIRD SPACE: Third Space is the podcast for those who see the beauty of Catholicism, as well as the ugliness, who have experienced real harm AND real grace in the Church. Every episode I will have conversations with guests about the good and the bad in the Church—avoiding easy answers or black & white fundamentalism—in order to hold on to all that is true.

SUPPORT THIS SHOW: Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. All of your support directly helps my family and allows me to continue working on projects like this podcast, the newsletter, as well as resources about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

www.catholicthirdspace.com

LIVING SOLIDARITY: Living Solidarity upholds the infinite dignity of every person by addressing the reality of spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience in the Catholic Church. Living Solidarity helps to build a Church of integrity and solidarity by accompanying survivors of spiritual abuse with trauma-informed life coaching; equipping Church leaders and institutions to confront systemic harm; and creating resources grounded in psychological research and the Church’s Social Teaching. Visit livingsolidarity.com to learn more, to connect with Paul, to schedule individual life coaching, or to invite Paul to speak or consult with your community, parish, seminary, or diocese.

ABOUT THE HOST: Paul Fahey is currently a professional counselor, retreat leader, and the host of the Third Space podcast. He provides counseling for those who have been spiritually abused and creates resources for Church leaders to better safeguard their communities against all forms of abuse. He previously worked for eight years as the Director of Religious Education at a Catholic parish. Paul Fahey lives in Michigan with his wife, Kristina, and their five kids.

Ever since high school when I attended Steubenville Youth Conferences, some of my most life-changing spiritual experiences were at big conferences. But I haven’t been to one in over six years, and as my readers would suspect, I have a lot more mixed feelings and skepticism about these things than I used to.

Being a vendor is an opportunity to dip a toe back into an environment that has been filled with real grace and transformation, as well as spiritual abuse and betrayal. It’s a reunion of sorts, revisiting a once beloved space, wanting to see how much old friends have changed…and how much I have.

On the second day of the conference, Kristina and I walked a few blocks from the conference to pick up dinner. As we walked through the urban courtyard dotted with people resting on their backpacks in any small spot of shade, David came up to us and, noticing our conference paraphernalia, asked, “Are you guys Christians for real?” David went on to take off his ball cap to show us a long scar on his head and, after sharing that he has cancer and no access to a doctor, pulled up his old t-shirt to reveal a large lump on his side.

David spoke for several minutes about Jesus before asking for money to pay for cancer treatment. He walked with us a few more blocks and, in front of the restaurant where we were picking up dinner, introduced us to Jennifer.

Even more so than David, Jennifer bore the physical consequences of systemic poverty. She was, honestly, uncomfortable to be around. A discomfort that betrayed my own dis-integrity between my beliefs about poverty and my emotional reaction to speaking with and shaking hands with human persons who are poor and unhoused. She told us she wanted a sandwich from Burger King. She told us she hates being homeless.

Eventually we said goodbye and walked back to the large, air-conditioned conference center to quickly eat our overpriced dinner so we could go back to selling Catholic artwork before we closed up shop for the keynote presentation of the evening. Chris gave the talk that evening. Unlike David and Jennifer, you would know who Chris was. You’ve more than likely been to one of his talks or listened to one of his podcasts.

Despite my very mixed feelings about the conference, my discomfort being in a “Rah-Rah Catholicism!” environment, and my annoyance with the previous talk I went to that day—part of me was looking forward to this keynote. Not because of Chris, but because his talk led into Eucharistic Adoration. If you’ve been to a Catholic conference, you know the kind of Adoration I’m talking about. The oversized monstrance, the lights, the praise and worship band, all of it. Again, a space I was very familiar with. An old friend.

That made Chris’s talk feel all the more sad. It started like a right-wing pep rally with barely a mention of Jesus or Scripture. He staked out his definition of masculinity, not primarily by turning to Jesus and the saints as models, but by droning on about how the evil culture is trying to put men down by calling them “toxic” and that women, deep down, really want men to rescue them from their work cubicles. I was angry. And beneath that anger was sadness. This familiar space, which I once found safe and beautiful, has been overgrown with thorns. Or maybe the thorns had always been there and I didn’t have the eyes to see. Either way, it was clear this is a space where my beliefs and experiences no longer fit.

Eventually the music started and a priest processed in with the monstrance. Jesus was here! But of course, He had already been there. In David, Jesus walked with me to dinner. In Jennifer, Jesus spoke with me as I picked up my food. And in Chris, Jesus was there too.

Towards the end of his presentation, Chris moved into talking about how so many people have been harmed by men in their lives, men who were supposed to represent God to them. And at one point he said to this group of 5,000 attendees (and who knows how many people live-streaming), “I don’t think I ever shared this on stage before.” He went on to say that as a child, three different priests “made advances” (his phrasing) on him. Without at all excusing any of the crappy things he said before that, or any of the crappy things he said after, this moment gave his talk (and what he says on his platforms) more of a context. A context shaped by abuse and betrayal from individual men who represented Christ, and from the Church, which is supposed to be the Sacrament of Salvation, not the enabler, protector, and excuser of abuse.

In one of his documents that reoriented my understanding of God and grace, Pope Francis taught:

“Nor can we claim to say where God is not, because God is mysteriously present in the life of every person, in a way that he himself chooses, and we cannot exclude this by our presumed certainties…If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit rather than our own preconceptions, we can and must try to find the Lord in every human life” (Gaudete et Exsultate 42).

I wrote this reflection while sitting behind the vendor table, and as I was writing, everyone in the hallways went silent and kneeled (myself included) as a priest processed through the halls with the Eucharist on his way to offer Adoration to a breakout group. Whatever grace I’ve been given in order to believe that Jesus is present in this piece of bread on display at a conference—despite the ugliness that’s also on display—is the same grace that convicts me to believe that Jesus is present in David and Jennifer. It’s also the same grace that convicts me to see Jesus in Chris, despite the ways he obscures God’s goodness and causes spiritual harm in the position of authority he has.

I met my Old Friend at this conference. He hadn’t changed, but in the past several years He has changed me a lot. I don’t know if I’ll come back next year. I dipped my toe back in and the water wasn’t very welcoming. But it’s good I met Jesus here this year.

St. Mark was born in China in 1834. He was a physician who served the poor but who himself became seriously sick in his 30s and treated himself with one of the common medicines of that time, opium.

That begin an addiction that lasted for decades. He would frequently go to Confession, but eventually his priest confessor told him that he wasn’t serious enough about quitting so he denied Mark absolution and access to Communion.

Mark lived the rest of his life without access to the sacraments. He died a martyr in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, still an addict, still unable to receive the Sacraments.

There are two things I want to highlight from St. Mark’s story.

The first is that even though he lived for decades in what some would call the state of objective and public sin, Christ still gave him grace and made him holy. I recall this passage from Pope Francis:

“Nor can we claim to say where God is not, because God is mysteriously present in the life of every person, in a way that he himself chooses, and we cannot exclude this by our presumed certainties. Even when someone’s life appears completely wrecked, even when we see it devastated by vices or addictions, God is present there. If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit rather than our own preconceptions, we can and must try to find the Lord in every human life” (Gaudete et Exsultate 42).

St. Mark’s drug use may have been grave matter, but they were not mortal sins. His actions were not separating him from God. On the contrary, he was living so much in union with God that grace transformed him to the point that he was able to freely die a martyr.

Second, I was struck by the pastoral failure of his confessor who denied St. Mark absolution and the Eucharist because he didn’t think that Mark had “firm purpose of amendment.” Now, the priest, didn’t have the advantage of modern psychology and the knowledge that drug addiction is a disease, not a moral failure. The priest’s decision to withhold the sacraments from St. Mark was still objectively unjust and caused real harm.

But God was still able to work. While St. Mark was denied the source and summit of God’s grace, God himself was not bound by His sacraments.

I think that St. Mark’s story is a source of hope for those caught in addictions, habits, and relationships that bind their freedom, who feel like their grave actions are preventing them from a life of real holiness.

He is also a source of hope for those faithful being unjustly governed by their pastors. His story is a reminder that even when religious leaders utterly fail as pastors and leaders that God’s grace can, and does, continue to heal and transform the Church.

You can buy this icon, and check out more great Catholic artwork from Cecilia Lawrence, here: https://www.deviantart.com/theophilia

Read more about St. Mark’s story here:
https://www.osvnews.com/2019/10/24/the-life-of-st-mark-ji-tianxiang-persevering-in-faith-despite-addiction/

• You can read their incredible story here.

• And Blessed Józef was a photographer; you can see photos of their family here.

I want to highlight three areas of their story.

First, the family died as martyrs, but not because of anti-Christian persecution. They were not targets of violence. They could have easily ridden out the Nazi regime unharmed like so many Polish and German Christians. But they put themselves in harms’ way to protect the people who were being villainized, scapegoated, and persecuted by their government.

In the family Bible, they had this passage underlined in red: “A Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him: He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him onto his own mount and took him to an inn and looked after him” (Luke 10: 33-34).

Second, the Ulmas were not wealthy. They gave not from their excess, but from their necessity. Their house had one room, with a closet dividing the dining area from the bedrooms. And yet they found room in their home for multiple refugee families. Before their martyrdom, this was a family practiced in abundant generosity.

Third, when they were beatified, it was the first time in the Church’s history where an entire family was beatified together…including their unborn and unbaptized baby. We are within living memory of parish priests refusing to bury unbaptized children in the Catholic cemetery, and now the Church has beatified an unbaptized child. The doctrinal implications of this have yet to be fully unpacked.

I would encourage you to take a moment to read about their life, their love, and their death.

Blessed Wiktoria, Blessed Józef, Blessed Stasia, Blessed Basia, Blessed Władzio, Blessed Franuś, Blessed Antoś, Blessed Marysia, and Blessed Baby Ulma: Pray for us.

*AI was used to edit this post

“Some asked me, ‘What would you like the pope to say to the General Chapter?’ This made me reflect, and I am not sure of the answer, but I found one of Saint Augustine’s sermons that gives me words that might help. Here I quote Saint Augustine: ‘But if travelers rejoice in each other’s company on the way, what joy they will obtain in their home country! On this journey, the witnesses fought and they always advanced in the fight. They never gave up. By going forward, they never got stuck in one place. Those who love always move forward, and the path that we take requires sojourners.’

“This road rejects three types of people: those who stop, those who go back, and those who get off track. With the help of the Lord, our path has been protected from these three negative outcomes. Now walking together, one may go slowly and another may go faster, but both are moving forward. Holy Father, your presence in our midst will help us renew our commitment to move forward with decisiveness and love, thereby strengthening our ability to walk together alongside the whole Church.”

This passage has been on my mind as news of the SSPX schism has been in my newsfeed. In fact, speaking with the press about the SSPX in the weeks before their schism, Pope Leo said they “refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the Church, starting with various points of the Second Vatican Council. If they make that choice, I am sorry, but we must move forward.”

We must move forward.

The road rejects those who go back.

A year and a half ago, I wrote a catechesis about the Church’s teaching on development of doctrine. In light of all this, I want to share a long excerpt from it here in order to make the case that:

1. The core issue with the SSPX is, and has always been, a rejection of the development of doctrine and the authority of the living magisterium, not about liturgical preferences.

2. This core issue, while distilled and explicit in the SSPX, is present in wide swaths of the Church, including in many Catholics who are critical of the SSPX. The only differences are disagreement on when the rupture happened (Pope Francis vs. Vatican II) or on the specific doctrines being developed (the death penalty or matters of sexuality vs. religious freedom and ecumenism). In other words, the road not only rejects those who go back, but also those who stop. As Dei Verbum states, “the Church constantly moves forward” (DV 8).

Combination of continuity and discontinuity

In a 1976 letter to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), Pope St. Paul VI said to the traditionalist prelate, “the concept of ‘tradition’ that you invoke is distorted.” Paul VI explained that Lefebvre understood Tradition as “a rigid and dead notion, a fact of a certain static sort” which “blocks the life of this active organism which is the Church.” Tradition, according to the pope, “is inseparable from the living magisterium of the Church.” This clarification that Paul VI offered Lefebvre is essential for understanding the doctrinal developments that came from Vatican II. It is also essential for the many Catholics today who believe that the Church’s teaching is unchanging and who, in turn, feel deeply uncomfortable with the idea that Church teaching could change in the future.

Those who believe that doctrine never changes often invoke Pope Benedict XVI’s teaching that we need to reject a “hermeneutic of discontinuity” with Tradition and instead embrace a “hermeneutic of continuity.” The trouble is that this is not what Pope Benedict taught.

The late pontiff’s teaching about contrasting hermeneutics came from a Christmas address he gave to the Roman Curia in 2005. There, he criticized a “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” that sees the post-conciliar Church as disconnected from the prior nineteen centuries of Tradition. Furthermore, this hermeneutic pits the “spirit of the Council” against the “texts of the Council,” prioritizing the former as truly representing the will of the Council.

Pope Benedict contrasted this “hermeneutic of discontinuity,” not with the “hermeneutic of continuity,” but with a “hermeneutic of reform.” In doing so, he references Pope St. John XXIII’s 1962 speech that opened the Second Vatican Council. Quoting John XXIII, Benedict said: “The substance of the ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another.”

This distinction between the “substance” of doctrine and “the way in which it is presented” is crucial. The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, picks up this distinction in a key passage about the development of doctrine: “This tradition which comes from the Apostles developed in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down” (Dei Verbum 8).

Here the Council Fathers draw a distinction between the “realities” of Divine Revelation and the Church’s understanding and expression of those realities. This is key: Pope Benedict—in that same Christmas address—said that “true reform” occurs when there is a “combination of continuity and discontinuity at different levels” (emphasis mine). In other words, an authentic understanding of Tradition does not insist on rigid continuity but rather embraces continuity in the unchanging substance of doctrine and allows for discontinuity in the way that substance is understood and expressed. Benedict used the Council’s teaching about religious liberty as an illustration of true reform, going so far as to say that this development was a correction of some historical teachings. By affirming religious liberty, Benedict said the Council “recovered the deepest patrimony of the Church” and was “in full harmony with the teaching of Jesus himself.”

Benedict acknowledged that there can be “apparent discontinuity” between contemporary magisterial teaching and historical teachings. However, rather than seeing this discontinuity as a rupture or a denial of Tradition, he believes that the discontinuity of understanding and expression ultimately led to a deeper preservation of the substance of Divine Revelation.

Right away, it is clear that the idea that Church teaching never changes is not shared by Pope Benedict or the Council itself. The Church can, and has, corrected some historical decisions of the Magisterium. However, in matters of doctrine, any contradiction or reversal with the past is only a discontinuity of expression, not a discontinuity of substance. That being said, the discontinuity of expression can look like a dramatic change in substance. St. John Henry Newman uses the example of a butterfly to illustrate this point. A butterfly looks entirely different from the caterpillar it used to be, but the dramatic differences do not change the fact that they are, at the deepest level, the same creature. Pope Benedict pointed to the Council’s teaching about religious liberty as an example of this kind of dramatic change, where the Church chose to “define in a new way” how Catholics ought to relate to other religions. The Church’s teachings about slavery, usury, and the possibility of salvation for non-Catholics are all further examples of where the Church teaching today looks, in many ways, like a reversal from what it taught in the past.

This understanding of reform is explicitly reaffirmed by Pope Francis in his response to the dubia submitted by five cardinals, including Cardinal Burke, in the lead-up to the 2023 meeting for the Synod on Synodality. The cardinals questioned the pope about whether Revelation “should be reinterpreted according to the cultural changes of our time” or if Revelation “is binding forever, immutable, and therefore not to be contradicted.” If you apply Pope Benedict’s understanding of reform to this question, the answer is obvious: the substance of Revelation is immutable, but the Church’s understanding and expression of Revelation can change. And that is precisely how Francis responded:

“Therefore, while it is true that the Divine Revelation is immutable and always binding, the Church must be humble and recognize that she never exhausts its unfathomable richness and needs to grow in her understanding. Consequently, she also matures in her understanding of what she has herself affirmed in her Magisterium. Cultural changes and new challenges in history do not modify Revelation but can stimulate us to express certain aspects of its overflowing richness better, which always offers more. It is inevitable that this can lead to a better expression of some past statements of the Magisterium, and indeed, this has been the case throughout history.”

Constantly moving forward

All of this raises the questions: How does the Church’s understanding of Revelation grow? How does doctrine develop and who develops it? Again, Dei Verbum is the key text. In the same section quoted previously, the Dogmatic Constitution affirmed that Tradition develops with and through the whole Church: from the prayers and lives of laypeople, to the study of theologians, and, ultimately, the teaching authority of the pope and bishops in communion with him. In other words, as Pope Paul VI said to Archbishop Lefebvre, Tradition “is inseparable from the living magisterium of the Church.” It is ultimately the Magisterium, and only the Magisterium, that definitively resolves any apparent contradictions because the “the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church” (DV 10).

Further, Dei Verbum states that “the Church constantly moves forward” until “the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her” (DV 8). Rather than seeing what is ancient as the greatest understanding of Revelation, the Council Fathers understood that as time progresses, the Church “moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth.” In a general sense, we have a greater understanding of Revelation now than we did in the 1500s, 1200s, or 400s. Here, the organic images of rivers and trees that St. John Henry Newman used can be helpful. A river is greater and more powerful at its mouth than in the small mountain spring that is its source. Likewise, a mighty oak tree is grander and stronger than a sapling. Pope Francis captures this growth in understanding, even to the point of correcting past teachings, in his response to the dubia:

“On the one hand, it is true that the Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but it is also true that both the texts of the Scripture and the testimonies of Tradition require interpretation in order to distinguish their perennial substance from cultural conditioning. This is evident, for example, in biblical texts (such as Exodus 21:20-21) and in some magisterial interventions that tolerated slavery (Cf. Pope Nicholas V, Bull Dum diversas, 1452).^[1] This is not a minor issue given its intimate connection with the perennial truth of the inalienable dignity of the human person. These texts need interpretation. The same applies to certain considerations in the New Testament regarding women (1 Corinthians 11:3-10; 1 Timothy 2:11-14) and other texts of Scripture and testimonies of Tradition that cannot be materially repeated today.”

In other words, the living Magisterium is our interpreter of historical texts, not the other way around. We cannot appropriately use our understanding of past texts to judge the living Magisterium, otherwise, we end up severely misunderstanding and misrepresenting the Catholic faith. We cannot genuinely understand historical texts apart from the Church’s current teachings. The living Magisterium, working in dialogue with the faithful, is our only sure guide and interpreter of Scripture, Tradition, and historical documents, sifting through what is of perennial substance and what is the result of cultural conditioning (cf. DV 8). There is also danger in accepting an historic teaching as binding if it has not been repeated in generations because “frequent repetition” of a doctrine is one of the ways for us to know the importance of a magisterial teaching (Lumen Gentium 25).

This danger becomes clear if we try to imagine a catechist telling a new convert to Catholicism that “none of those who are outside of the Catholic Church” including “Jews, heretics, and schismatics” can be saved and all of them are damned to Hell (Council of Florence, 1442 AD); or a pastor telling his congregation that receiving any interest on a loan is gravely evil (Vix Pervenit, 1745 AD) but that slavery “considered in itself and all alone, is by no means repugnant to the natural and divine law” (Instruction of the Holy Office, June 20, 1866). Finally, imagine a Catholic school principal writing a bulletin article asserting that Catholic parents are forbidden to send their kids to public school without the permission of their bishop (Divini Illius Magistri, 1929AD). We must avoid reading past magisterial documents the way that fundamentalists read Scripture.

Hermeneutic of traditionalism: relativism and fundamentalism

In light of Pope Benedict’s “contrasting hermeneutics” framework, I would like to identify a third hermeneutic: the hermeneutic of traditionalism. This hermeneutic proposes that contemporary magisterial teachings must be understood and interpreted through the lens of historical teachings. This is a tempting hermeneutic because it appears solid and faithful. However, it is ultimately a type of subjective relativism and religious fundamentalism.

This hermeneutic of traditionalism presumes that individual Catholics have the ability and authority to interpret Tradition, which is what Newman said of Protestants who relied “upon their own personal private judgment” to interpret Scripture. In other words, this position posits that individuals can correctly interpret the Church’s historical teachings and judge whether or not the “living teaching office of the Church” has contradicted Tradition based on that interpretation. This hermeneutic is flawed because it makes the individual member of the faithful, and not the living Magisterium (the pope and the bishops in communion with him), the authentic interpreter of Tradition.

This distorted understanding of Tradition is also a kind of religious fundamentalism. It betrays a desperate need to have unchanging certainty in religious beliefs. Like the Protestant Christians who felt like their entire faith was threatened by the theory of evolution, within this Catholic fundamentalism is the fear that even the slightest deviation from historical teachings threatens the legitimacy of the entire Church.

Further, this hermeneutic of traditionalism is also related to the hermeneutic of discontinuity. Namely, it is defined by the idea that there is a Truth (i.e., Tradition) that can be abstracted from the actual texts of the Magisterium. As with the hermeneutic of discontinuity, the traditionalist hermeneutic holds that for the sake of faithfulness to the Truth, it may be necessary not to follow the teachings of the Magisterium. Ultimately, as Pope Benedict warned in his 2005 address, a hermeneutic of discontinuity “risks ending in a split between the pre-conciliar Church and the post-conciliar Church” because it asserts that the texts of the Council and post-conciliar teachings are not entirely faithful to the Truth of the Catholic faith.

[…]

Not just traditionalists

It is important to note that this hermeneutic of traditionalism with its distorted concept of Tradition extends far beyond members of the SSPX or Catholics who describe themselves as “traditionalists.” In fact, many Catholics who attend the reformed liturgy and say they support the teachings of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI—many of whom even criticize “Rad Trads” for their excesses—have fallen prey to this false hermeneutic. They do this whenever they presume that any deviation between a teaching of Pope Francis and the teachings of his predecessors is a rupture with the substance of a doctrine and not a true reform with a mix of continuity and discontinuity.

One example of this fundamentalist understanding of Tradition comes from Cardinal Burke and his assertion that Pope Francis’s teaching about the possibility of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics is a rupture from prior teachings. In fact, the cardinal expresses a distilled version of the hermeneutic of traditionalism in his 2019 interview with Ross Douthat. In reference to Amoris Laetitia, Burke said, “I haven’t changed. I’m still teaching the same things I always taught and they’re not my ideas. But now suddenly this is perceived as being contrary to the Roman pontiff.” The idea that one could not possibly be in schism because their beliefs have not changed rests on the premise that Church teaching cannot change.

Examples of this hermeneutic of traditionalism can also be seen in the criticism directed at Francis’s prohibition of the death penalty. Like the Second Vatican Council’s teaching about religious freedom, Francis’s magisterial teaching about capital punishment includes a “combination of continuity and discontinuity at different levels.” Some of the current pontiff’s teachings are indeed changes from those of his predecessors, but they are not ruptures. Francis is reaching back to deeper truths.

In 2018, the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a “Letter to the Bishops” explaining the pope’s revision to the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the death penalty which said, “The new revision of number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, approved by Pope Francis, situates itself in continuity with the preceding Magisterium while bringing forth a coherent development of Catholic doctrine” and “expresses an authentic development of doctrine that is not in contradiction with the prior teachings of the Magisterium” (7-8). In Fratelli Tutti, Francis said, “I sometimes wonder why…it took so long for the Church unequivocally to condemn slavery and various forms of violence. Today, with our developed spirituality and theology, we have no excuses” (Fratelli Tutti 86). Then he goes on to cite Scripture, Church Fathers, and past popes to demonstrate that his unequivocal condemnation of the death penalty is a reaching back to the deeper revelation that every human being has infinite dignity (cf. FT 264-265).

[You can read my whole essay here: https://wherepeteris.com/navigating-growth-and-development-in-a-living-tradition/]

*AI was used to edit this post