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.
The incident allegedly involved the priest touching a female student’s long hair during a presentation as he was joking with about 200 students gathered to venerate the relic.
Enforcement tactics do not in the end deter asylum seekers, who are typically fleeing life-threatening circumstances, but stricter enforcement does push border crossers to more dangerous paths.
“What I’d like to see is the breaking down of this notion that there are the professional Christians—who are the priests, the bishops, the religious and many lay people—and the recognition that we’re all part of this together.”
I use a motorized wheelchair and communication device because of my disability, cerebral palsy. Parishes were not prepared to accommodate my needs nor were they always willing to recognize my abilities.