Abuse in the ecclesial context is always spiritual
INTRODUCTION
The abuses of power, conscience and spirituality represent a deep wound in the Church not only for the people who suffer them, but also for the communities and institutions in which they take place. These are complex dynamics that are intertwined with trust, the role of authority and human vulnerability; they often happen in areas where relationships should be a space for growth and protection. Understanding these phenomena means going beyond appearances, grasping the systemic roots that make them possible and the devastating consequences they produce in the lives of the victims, both personally and spiritually.
The text, without wanting to be an exhaustive or academic treatment, aims to offer a concrete tool for those who wish to face these realities with awareness and responsibility. Through an attempt at clear and accessible analysis, the main characterizing elements of spiritual, conscience and authority abuses are presented, with the aim of providing support for the comparison and verification of pastoral and formative practice. The intent is to encourage reflection and action, in order to promote relationships and environments based on transparency, respect and protection of the dignity of each person.
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NOTE
This handbook, the result of work carried out by a study group in the previous five years, aims to be the beginning of a reflection and ongoing training on the subject by the National Service for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults. In the five-year period 2024-2029, a study group has been activated within the SNTM Council to continue the in-depth study and offer additional tools and training opportunities.
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1. WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF ANY FORM OF ABUSE?
Abuse consists of a distorted way of exercising power, manipulating the trust one enjoys and instrumentalizing personal relationships.
The imbalance of power within an asymmetrical relationship involves a violation of the boundaries of the person, his life, his dignity and his freedom.
Abuse occurs mainly in a systemic context that creates the conditions, favors it, allows it, covers up and denies it and is capable of silencing the people involved.
1.1 The relationship of trust
A key element in understanding any form of abuse is the **trust** placed in a person or community. It is precisely within a relationship of trust that the person exposes himself by making himself more **vulnerable**. The person opens up and confides in the guide, seeking a reference, which he considers reliable and safe because of his role, to find relief, comfort, advice and guidance.
1.2 The vulnerability
There is therefore a potential vulnerability in every pastoral and ecclesial area and relationship. Therefore, it must be recognized that it is not only minors or people with physical, cognitive or psychological deficiencies who are at risk of being abused.
1.3 Manipulation
Central to the dynamics of abuse is the **manipulation** of vulnerable subjects who, through a slow and subtle process, are pushed to trust only one person, to turn themselves in, to tell their stories, to confide in themselves, to depend more and more on those who control them even in the small decisions that affect their lives.
This dynamic is even more serious when a priest, a spiritual guide or a community leader abuses his power, as power, when associated with the call of the divine, can become an absolute. The abuser can be a single person, a couple, a small group or an entire community.
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2. HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE AN ABUSE OF POWER AND AUTHORITY?
The abuse of power and authority occurs in the context of an asymmetrical relationship through an incorrect, distorted and prevaricating use of the role and/or function by the subject who is in a superior position. The abuser pursues an undue, illicit or immoral purpose, which, when recognized as such, is shown to be substantially contrary to the good of the person or community.
The abuse may be intended to exploit, damage or penalize the person or group (intellectually, spiritually, sexually, economically, materially, etc.) in order to gratify and/or obtain undue advantages. This does not detract from the fact that on the surface the abuser may seem like a benefactor, hiding his real intentions behind a very attractive public façade.
The abuser exercises progressive control over the lives of others, tends to invade the sphere of intimacy, imposes his ideas about the choice of the spiritual path, the state of life and the position to be held in the Church and in society.
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3. WHY CAN WE SPEAK OF ABUSE OF CONSCIENCE?
The abuse of conscience touches that sacred place “where he is alone with God, whose voice resounds in the depths of his heart” (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 16).
Abuse occurs when a person, who often plays a role of authority, with his or her power manipulates and progressively enters the sphere of the conscience of another person – the victim – to condition and reduce to the point of nullifying his or her freedom of judgment and choice.
The abuser insinuates himself into the person’s beliefs by questioning them, deconstructing them and conforming them to his own interpretation of reality.
The abuser harms the moral sensitivity of the victim by imposing himself as the exclusive holder of the concept of right and wrong, of good and evil, confusing the moral conscience of the interlocutor, sometimes even replacing it.
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4. WHAT IS SPIRITUAL ABUSE?
Spiritual abuse is a particular form of abuse of conscience that takes the form of the violation of the dignity, freedom and integrity of the person in his or her religious and spiritual self-determination. This abuse is the most invasive of the intimacy of the person because it takes place in reference to the relationship with God, with the life of faith and spirituality, through a distorted exercise of power and personal, religious and institutional authority.
This type of abuse involves individuals seeking accompaniment, discernment or pastoral support, with the aim of subduing their decision-making autonomy without respecting their spiritual physiognomy.
Spiritual abuse is characterized as a sequence of intentional and manipulative acts perpetrated in the name of God and is configured as a form of violence undertaken by a spiritual leader and by several people (spiritual guides, confessors, catechists, educators, pastoral workers…) or by a community (movement, association…), either towards an individual or towards a group or an entire community.
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5. IS ABUSE IN THE ECCLESIAL CONTEXT ALWAYS SPIRITUAL?
Abuse in the ecclesial context is always spiritual. Although it does not necessarily result in sexual abuse, it often precedes it as both the role of authority and the motivation and justification of the act refer to the life of faith and spirituality, to sacred texts and to God.
5.1 How does spiritual abuse occur?
Spiritual abuse is characterized by manipulation, emotional blackmail, lying, exploitation, restriction and control of individual or collective freedom with regard to the living of faith, the relationship with God and religious practice.
It is evidenced through a process of “brainwashing” that concerns important doctrinal issues: heterodox theological views, fundamentalist interpretations of sacred texts, distorted conceptions of authority, obedience, penance, devotional and disciplinary practices that make people more vulnerable to other forms of abuse, hindering or even preventing the encounter with God.
5.2 Who is most at risk?
Conscientious and committed people, who wish to grow in the spiritual life, are potentially exposed to spiritual abuse when their conscience and self-determination are violated. People lacking critical sense or more vulnerable and defenseless due to bereavement, abandonment, crisis or conflict, failure, illness they are going through, are even more at risk.
These people become victims when those who have some authority over them take advantage of the desire to grow spiritually, seducing and manipulating their interiority and conditioning their judgment and choices.
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6. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR INJURED PEOPLE?
Spiritual abuse, which is always also an expression of abuse of power and conscience, manifests itself in the context of pastoral care, spiritual accompaniment or within religious communities, causes deep existential wounds, and in some cases can lead to suicide. Among the most serious consequences are the psycho-somatic and psycho-social impairment of self-esteem, the induction of addiction, disorientation, depression, mania and contempt for the body. In addition, emotional reactions such as fear, anxiety, guilt, abandonment, isolation, confusion about one’s identity, exaltation of one’s image, distrust of oneself, of others, of life, of the future, are associated. The consequences of abuse can lead to the breakdown of family relationships, detachment from the target group, termination of training or employment, and financial exploitation. Further consequences on the life of faith and spirituality can be devastating: fear of perennial condemnation, distortion of the image of God and faith, doubts about belonging to the Church and a strong sense of unease and disgust with priests, rituals and religious symbols, up to the abandonment of the faith.
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7. HOW DOES THE ABUSER ACT?
Abusers have a characteristic way of relating and managing their authority.
7.1 “Charismatic” figures
Abusers, despite presenting themselves as “charismatic” figures who often proclaim themselves spiritual authorities with particular “gifts”, are very skilled in manipulating and dominating through elitist attitudes.
They have a great capacity to attract and be admired, they claim “special skills”, they create exclusive groups and rites, they propose concepts of radical and original authenticity often in opposition to the ecclesial reality that is criticized or devalued. In reality, they are severely immature people on a psychoaffective and social level, with narcissistic, paranoid or antisocial personality traits.
7.2 Taking the place of God
In particular, spiritual abuse involves the interposition of the abuser between the divine and the individual. The abuser, by threatening negative spiritual consequences and progressively annihilating the vital space of inner freedom, leads one to believe that his advice represents the will of God.
The abuser, by virtue of his authority, decides whether or not to belong to the group; discriminates against members between elected officials and those who remain on the margins of the community; it arbitrarily establishes the practices of life, the times of prayer and the ways of discipleship; it determines a code of language within the group and denies the possibility of personal training. This pathological leadership also goes so far as to encroach on the spheres of confession and conscience, to the point of controlling the forms of repentance and expiation of sins.
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8. IN WHAT CONTEXT DOES ABUSE DEVELOP?
Abuse cannot be understood and does not occur only between two people, but normally takes place in a community, institutional and social context. The characteristic elements of the context affect in favoring or preventing abuses from happening. In this sense, we speak of the “systemic context” of abuse.
8.1 What is meant by “system”?
The concept of “system”, understood in the ecclesial sense, includes the mission, norms and structures necessary to carry out the original mandate of the Church and to guarantee her continuity. All elements of the system can, if used in a distorted way, contribute directly or indirectly to allowing, encouraging and covering up abuses within them, despite what is stated in the Christian message with the consequent demand for congruent and transparent moral conduct. For example, in a community the idea can be spread that obeying God means obeying the superior in everything, since he is the exclusive mediator of God’s will. In such a “system” all members could be led to perceive as normal the fact that the leader decides all the issues on his own, that he does not provide important information and that no one can question what he says; at the same time, such a system will tend to delegitimize and isolate those who try to exercise a critical spirit.
8.2 What is real scandal?
Often the safeguarding and defense of the image of the Church and of the sacred authority of the clergy have been considered more important than recognizing in the wounded person the neighbor to be supported in justice and charity (cf. Lk 10:25-37; Mt 25:31-46).
8.3 Liability and omissions
The systemic gaze is therefore essential to grasp the responsibility of the individual, of the community and of the Church herself. The abuser manages to commit the crime and often go unpunished when the system operates in a distorted way, offering a cover within which the abuser operates undisturbed thanks to the complicity of ecclesiastical superiors (Bishops, members of the Curia, superiors, managers, socially and economically influential people).
When they use their power and influence in a distorted way, they can come to defend, not without advantages, the accused subject by testifying in favor of his good reputation and his upright conduct. The victim, on the other hand, may not be listened to, or may be induced into silence with threats or through economic compensation.
8.4 “Sacralization” of a person
Within pyramidal and closed systems, in which the concentration of power is focused on a single person, abusers act arbitrarily. In some realities, the sacralization of a person who plays the role of leadership is achieved through some erroneous or incomplete theological conceptions to justify the practice of authority. These are systems characterized by authoritarian and/or permissive ideologies, which involve followers by exerting strong pressure on the individual or on the entire group.
8.5 Centralization of power
Often a strategy of privileges and exceptions is implemented against the chosen members, and punishments and blackmail for those who do not obey. The leader imposes confidentiality on all members of his group, maintaining conditional, controlled and limited communication, both inside and outside the community, imposing a single thought and a stereotyped language. Contact with people or groups not liked by the spiritual leader is discouraged or prohibited, often even forbidding meeting people who have left the community. It should be noted that the more closed a system is and is based on the centralization of all kinds of power, the more we are faced with a context with a high risk of abuse.
8.6 Lack of a culture of error
The system within which abuse systematically occurs tends to create an ambivalent theological, spiritual and pastoral subculture, which on the one hand proclaims high ideal values, and on the other tends to belittle and normalize every scandal. There is a lack of application of a culture of error, which leads to confronting one’s own mistakes by facing them adequately at a personal and institutional level.
8.7 Spectators and the culture of silence
Finally, a further element of systemic analysis must be considered: the spectators, those who knew, who saw, who heard. For various reasons they preferred to remain silent or spoke out and were not listened to or taken seriously. In this way, a culture of silence and collective denial of what cannot be admitted and conceived as true is created in the system. In such a culture, attitudes develop which, internalized, act in an unconscious way, manifesting themselves in forms of indifference, in a distortion of perception and judgment, thus limiting the possibility of acting responsibly and courageously about abuse, both in an evangelical and civil sense.
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QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL AND GROUP REFLECTION
It would be important and appropriate to use this outline for personal reflection and for group discussion (formation teams, associations, movements, groups and parishes…)
- What aspects make us reflect more on the basis of personal experiences in our ecclesial life?
- With reference to our ecclesial context, what aspects do you consider particularly important to consider, deepen and verify?
- What shared choices, course corrections, prevention measures are to be identified and introduced in our contexts of social and ecclesial life?
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TEXTS AND IN-DEPTH ARTICLES
Keeping in mind the recipients of the document (parishes, ecclesial communities, movements, associations, formation teams, etc.), choose texts, aids and materials for reflection:
- BRAMBILLA F.G., *Sectarian drifts in the Church today? Five criteria for recognizing and preventing them*, Tredimensione, 1/2024, pp. 37-50.
- BRAMBILLA F.G., *New religious movements: the risks of a sectarian drift*, Il Regno, 16/2023, pp. 531-541.
- CITO D., *Short canonical quotations on the concept of abuse of power and conscience*, Tredimensione, 3/2020, pp. 302-312.
- CITO D., *Abuse of power, abuse of conscience and spiritual abuse*, in *Spiritual accompaniment in movements and new communities*, Edusc, Rome 2023.
- COMOTTI G., *Prevention and repression of sexual abuse of minors: the imposing limits to the protection of secrets in canon law*, Ephemerides Iuris Canonici 61 (2/2021), pp. 443-474.
- DEODATO A. & RINALDI F., *The wounds caused by spiritual abuse*, Tredimensione, 3/2021, pp. 266-273.
- DEODATO A., *Accompanying people wounded by abuse*, in *Spiritual accompaniment in movements and new communities*, LISIERO E., VIGO S., INSA F. (eds.), Edusc, Rome 2023.
- EDITORIAL, *What Makes Leaders Sick in the Church*, Tredimensione, 3/2021, pp. 232-235.
- EDITORIAL, *When the charism is buggy*, Tredimensione, 1/2018, pp 9-17.
- EUGENIO L., *From vulnerability to vulnerance. The contexts and institutional dynamics of abuse*, Tredimensione, 1/2023, pp. 54-64.
- FUMAGALLI A., *The scandal of the little ones. Theological-moral approaches to abuse in the Church*, in *Abuse in the Church. An interdisciplinary approach* (Ancora, Milan 2025), edited by Corbella C. and Ceragioli F.
- GIANFREDA A. – GRIFFINI C. (eds.), *Accountability and protection in the Church. Protecting minors from abuse today*, Rubettino, Soveria Mannelli (CZ) 2022.
- HAUSELMANN J. & INSA F., *Abuse of power, spiritual abuse, abuse of conscience. Similarities and differences*, Tredimensione, 1/2023, pp. 42-53.
- RONZONI G., *Spiritual abuse*, Messaggero, Padua 2023.
BASIC TEXTS OF THE CEI
- *The wounds of abuse*, CENCINI A., DEODATO A., UGOLINI G., (eds.) https://tutelaminori.chiesacattolica.it/le-ferite-degli-abusi/
- *Initial training in times of abuse*, CENCINI A., LASSI S. (eds.) https://tutelaminori.chiesacattolica.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/3-La-formazione-iniziale-in-tempo-di-abusi.pdf
April 2025
Edited by: Anna Deodato, Fr. Gottfried Ugolini, Luisa Bove, Fr. Enrico Parolari, Marco Rondonotti
Collaborators: Sr. Alessandra Bonifai, Mons. Gianni Checchinato, Roberto Costamagna, Ludovica Eugenio, mons. Alessandro Giraudo, Martin Lintner, Luciano Manicardi, Fr. Lello Ponticelli, Chiara Palazzini, Fr. Fabrizio Rinaldi, Sr. Elisabeth Senfter, Assunta Steccanella, Sr. Mariachiara Vighesso.
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