Vatican to consider classifying ‘spiritual abuse’ as new Catholic crime
Pope Francis has asked the Vatican to study whether the Catholic Church should classify “spiritual abuse” as a new crime in order to address cases where priests use purported mystical experiences as a pretext for harming others. A statement from the Vatican’s doctrinal office announcing the move did not name any specific cases of such abuse, but the Vatican has had to deal with several in recent years. Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the Church’s lead doctrinal official, met with Francis to discuss the proposal for a new crime of spiritual abuse on Nov. 22, according to the statement.
