- Feb 5, 2002
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Code of Canon Law must more directly address the frequent spiritual manipulation and abuse of office wrought by members of the church to solicit sex, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief said.
“Various dicasteries frequently received reports or complaints about situations where spiritual elements were used as an excuse or motivation to have sexual relations,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said in an interview with Alfa y Omega, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Madrid.
“In these cases, there is a manipulation of people who entrust themselves to a spiritual guide and at the same time a manipulation of the spiritual beauty of our faith in order to obtain sex,” he said.
In the interview published Jan. 23, the cardinal said that the lack of a specific offense in canon law regarding spiritual abuse makes it “necessary and urgent to address it, because we have discovered that it is unfortunately not uncommon.”
Continued below.
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“Various dicasteries frequently received reports or complaints about situations where spiritual elements were used as an excuse or motivation to have sexual relations,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said in an interview with Alfa y Omega, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Madrid.
“In these cases, there is a manipulation of people who entrust themselves to a spiritual guide and at the same time a manipulation of the spiritual beauty of our faith in order to obtain sex,” he said.
In the interview published Jan. 23, the cardinal said that the lack of a specific offense in canon law regarding spiritual abuse makes it “necessary and urgent to address it, because we have discovered that it is unfortunately not uncommon.”
Continued below.
Vatican official: Spiritual abuse cases require defined canon law
The Vatican's doctrinal chief calls for clearer canon law to address spiritual abuse, highlighting the need for a specific classification.
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