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 Reflection for the Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, by Noah Banasiewicz, S.J.

A Reflection for Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time, by Tim Reidy

If heaven is like a wedding banquet, then purgatory may be understood as preparation for a great celebration. It is not a dreary waiting room at the D.M.V., but a place of lively hope.

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.