Last November, Cardinal Fernández (the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith) said that the Church was considering making “spiritual abuse” a crime in Canon Law. Over the next couple days, I probably had 15 different people text me asking me if I’d seen this news and what my thoughts were about it (that was the moment I realized that, for better or for worse, I’m becoming the “spiritual abuse guy”).
I just can’t express enough how grateful I am for your work and the collaboration you have established with others around the topic of spiritual abuse. I think it’s personally very important to me, as I have searched for resources for understanding my experiences of harm in the church. Thank you for working on this issue and writing about it.
I also agree with your concerns about the limited way spiritual abuse is being defined in the legislation. I hope that the DDF will collaborate with experts on this topic.
I just can’t express enough how grateful I am for your work and the collaboration you have established with others around the topic of spiritual abuse. I think it’s personally very important to me, as I have searched for resources for understanding my experiences of harm in the church. Thank you for working on this issue and writing about it.
I also agree with your concerns about the limited way spiritual abuse is being defined in the legislation. I hope that the DDF will collaborate with experts on this topic.