“I Myself Will Shepherd My Sheep”
A workshop for recognizing, preventing, and responding to spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church
Through the Church—the sacrament of God’s infinite love—her Scriptures, her Tradition, her prayers, and her liturgies, people can encounter the living Christ and experience his love, healing, and transformative grace.
But what happens when the men and women tasked with mediating God’s grace, appointed to preach God’s word and preside over the sacraments, do so with carelessness or coercion? What harm is done when the place of healing becomes a source of harm?
I have experienced spiritual abuse and the abuse of conscience in the Church. Sometimes this abuse was caused directly by leadership acting with malice; sometimes I was harmed by leaders being careless or negligent; and sometimes the damage happened indirectly via a Catholic culture that did not respect my conscience. I also worked as a lay minister in the Church for several years, and unfortunately contributed to that same religious culture that put others at risk for spiritual abuse.
This spring, I’m completing a MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and intend to work professionally both to help individuals who have been harmed by the Church find healing and to work with ministry leaders to help them make their communities safer. These are also my goals for this workshop.
This workshop is for:
Individuals trying to understand and/or heal from experiences of spiritual abuse in the Church
Clergy and lay leaders interested in safeguarding their communities from spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience
Therapists 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
Respond to individuals who have been spiritually abused
Details:
The interest in this workshop has exceeded my expectations! So much so that both groups filled up. The interest demonstrates to me the need for more community and resources about spiritual abuse in the Church. I anticipate hosting more workshops on the topic in the near future. Subscribe to this newsletter to stay updated.
Resources:
Research article about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church:
https://wherepeteris.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The-Place-Where-You-Stand-is-Holy-Ground.pdfPodcast episodes about spiritual abuse and abuse of conscience:
What is Abuse of Conscience? https://www.popefrancisgeneration.com/p/what-is-abuse-of-conscience
Dr. Marcus Mescher - Moral Injury and Clerical Sexual Abuse
https://www.popefrancisgeneration.com/p/marcus-mescher-moral-injury-and-clerical
Liz Hansen - Feeling Unsafe in the Church
https://www.popefrancisgeneration.com/p/liz-hansen-feeling-unsafe-in-the
Spiritual Abuse
https://www.popefrancisgeneration.com/p/spiritual-abuse-and-the-abuse-of
