The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Legislative Texts are setting up a working group to study how "spiritual abuse" can be defined and punished in church law, a note from the doctrinal office said.
Synopsis
This is a document about the Vatican's study of spiritual abuse. It discusses the Vatican's working group to study how "spiritual abuse" can be defined and punished in church law. A new note, published on the doctrinal office's website in late November, said the prior statement already allows for the misuse of spirituality to "be evaluated as an aggravating circumstance if it occurs together with delicts" or crimes, such as sexual* abuse. The office's disciplinary section deals with allegations of sexual abuse. Currently "there is no delict in Canon Law classified by the name 'false mysticism,'" but canonists occasionally use the expression when addressing crimes of abuse.*
Opinion
The idea of "false mysticism" is intriguing. Either we have a series of different mysticisms or, as the Catholic Church seems to believe, some are true while others are false.
This matters to me because in India I experienced a range of mysticisms. Each was different, depending on what path, course, or person I was focussing on at a given moment. One local guy proclaimed I was gifted and that he would make me his "prodigy." My gut told me he was bad news and other events like village children spurning him at an outdoor tea shop and gravitating to the table where my friend and I were sitting seemed to confirm my suspicions.
 |
| Rasputin (1869-1916) worked his way into the Russian monarchy |
Apparently, bad mysticism, frauds, and evil mystics do exist. Later back in Canada, I had a professor who for the most part, seemed to be gripped by some weird numinous power that didn't necessarily come from God. S/he was highly intuitive but did things that could be taken as abusive perhaps even criminal.
You know the old saying: THE MADMAN DOESN'T KNOW HE IS MAD. And I guess the same would apply to women.✝
Warped mystics seem to believe they are doing the right thing. For them, it's their god-given right to use their unusual powers to trample on innocents. They've suffered, envision themselves as "special" and the rest of us "don't understand." At least, that's how they feel most of the time. They may have moments of realization and repentence but these don't last long. The strange power overtakes them again, not unlike Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
 |
| Deviantart.com - Lucy-Westenra-Bram-Stokers-Dracula |
How do various religious and spiritual paths work together? They are different. There is no doubt about that in my mind. But to say that some are "false" might be a bit extreme.
Or is it?
—
Comments