FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer from his window, at the Vatican, November 24, 2024. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - 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 statement from the Vatican's doctrinal office announcing the move did not name any specific cases of such abuse, but the Vatican has had to deal with several in recent years.
