FRANCE
La Croix International
February 21, 2019
By Céline Hoyeau
The abuser acts in the name of an absolute principle that the abused person also regards as absolute
Dominican Father Gilles Berceville, who teaches spiritual theology at the Catholic Institute of Paris, argues that the current crisis needs to lead to more reflection on the issue of spiritual abuse. La Croix’s Céline Hoyeau interviewed the priest.
Céline Hoyeau: In his Letter to the People of God, Pope Francis links sexual abuse, abuse of power and abuse of conscience. How do you explain this?
Father Gilles Berceville: Abuse must not be restricted to sexual assault. An assault by a priest is not merely sexual. It is often a symptom of something deeper, namely spiritual abuse.
How to define this and why is it so serious?
It is a very specific form of abuse of conscience because it is exercised by a person with moral or religious authority.
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