Last year, someone who attended one of my spiritual abuse workshops mentioned to me that I may like the content that Ann Yeong, a Catholic podcaster in Singapore, was posting on Instagram about Catholic deconstruction.
What an impactful podcast discussion... Thank you so much for sharing this. I believe we are living in the era that is bringing about God's kingdom by awakening to the dignity of persons in terms of spiritual abuse. Thank you for being a part of this chapter in our Church's history.
Although I had read Pope Francis on St. Joseph, your elaboration on chaste love re: authority is so revealing. I wish every Catholic men's and women's conference could have a talk related to this fuller description of the virtue.
I'm grateful to have a contrasting experience from you -- that many priests I know actually have a respect for their own authority. Don't get me wrong; there's room for improvement, however I was sad to hear your experience of such widespread a lack of recognition of respect for the gravity of their ability to spiritually abuse, on the part of priests.
I suspect my differing experience is partially based on my bishop's background as a religious Missionary of the Holy Spirit. Their spirituality of the Cross is related to a Mexican lay mystic, Blessed Conchita, who reported receiving messages from Jesus which included how he is deeply wounded by priests who abuse their priesthood. Our bishop was once a formator for this community, so while I am not privvy to all the diocesan formation for our priests, I can only assume this spiritual attitude comes forth from his heart.
Hi Paul! Thank you for sharing this. I really enjoyed your conversation with Ann. For me, one of the most important things that came up was the freedom we have to live out our faith in many different ways, and the coercion that results when we believe that our way has to be everyone else's way, too.
I wrote about this when I first started my Substack because it really is an issue close to my heart - I received a lot of formation from specifically charismatic ecclesial movements (though there were others, too) and it took a lot of unspooling for me to find peace in the fact that I didn't HAVE to be part of these movements to be a good Catholic, and I am free to choose them or not. (https://open.substack.com/pub/recoveringcatholic/p/the-only-way-to-be-catholic)
I really appreciate Ratzinger here. He could see the risks inherent in these movements even as he was generally very positive and encouraging of ecclesial movements. He wrote, "the fact that the spiritual awakening [in the movements] is not experienced as one form of Christian existence, but as a being struck by the totality of the message as such, can lead to the absolutizing of the movement, which can understand itself simply as the Church, as the way for all …"
Thank you for sharing this. I saw this mentality in the NeoCatechumenal Way where it was communicated, implicitly and explicitly, that if you really want to be holy then you need to stay in the NeoWay. It’s deeply coercive.
What an impactful podcast discussion... Thank you so much for sharing this. I believe we are living in the era that is bringing about God's kingdom by awakening to the dignity of persons in terms of spiritual abuse. Thank you for being a part of this chapter in our Church's history.
Although I had read Pope Francis on St. Joseph, your elaboration on chaste love re: authority is so revealing. I wish every Catholic men's and women's conference could have a talk related to this fuller description of the virtue.
I'm grateful to have a contrasting experience from you -- that many priests I know actually have a respect for their own authority. Don't get me wrong; there's room for improvement, however I was sad to hear your experience of such widespread a lack of recognition of respect for the gravity of their ability to spiritually abuse, on the part of priests.
I suspect my differing experience is partially based on my bishop's background as a religious Missionary of the Holy Spirit. Their spirituality of the Cross is related to a Mexican lay mystic, Blessed Conchita, who reported receiving messages from Jesus which included how he is deeply wounded by priests who abuse their priesthood. Our bishop was once a formator for this community, so while I am not privvy to all the diocesan formation for our priests, I can only assume this spiritual attitude comes forth from his heart.
Hi Paul! Thank you for sharing this. I really enjoyed your conversation with Ann. For me, one of the most important things that came up was the freedom we have to live out our faith in many different ways, and the coercion that results when we believe that our way has to be everyone else's way, too.
I wrote about this when I first started my Substack because it really is an issue close to my heart - I received a lot of formation from specifically charismatic ecclesial movements (though there were others, too) and it took a lot of unspooling for me to find peace in the fact that I didn't HAVE to be part of these movements to be a good Catholic, and I am free to choose them or not. (https://open.substack.com/pub/recoveringcatholic/p/the-only-way-to-be-catholic)
I really appreciate Ratzinger here. He could see the risks inherent in these movements even as he was generally very positive and encouraging of ecclesial movements. He wrote, "the fact that the spiritual awakening [in the movements] is not experienced as one form of Christian existence, but as a being struck by the totality of the message as such, can lead to the absolutizing of the movement, which can understand itself simply as the Church, as the way for all …"
Thanks again!
Thank you for sharing this. I saw this mentality in the NeoCatechumenal Way where it was communicated, implicitly and explicitly, that if you really want to be holy then you need to stay in the NeoWay. It’s deeply coercive.