abuses in the religious life and the path to healing.

"...a priority has to be given to the voices of victims, to listening carefully to all that they have to say, no matter how difficult it may be to hear, and however great the "damage" that their story might seem to do to the image we may once have had of this or that person who, up until that point, may even have been considered a point of reference for the spiritual or religious life. Publishing this book is one way....to say to the victims of spiritual abuse or other aberrant behaviors that they have been heard and taken seriously. They have all too often had to endure long periods characterized by denial or rejection on the part of the very Church authorities in whom they had tried to confide." (de Lassus, 2020).

"...chapter 3 of the Rule of Saint Benedict, which recommends that, 'each time there is something important to decide,' that the abbot should call together the whole community, and himself set out the matter that is to be decided. Then he is to listen to each of the brothers, to try to see what the Spirit is saying, since the Spirit can speak through any one of them, even the youngest, provided that they speak with the necessary humility and obedience. Then the abbot himself decides, and all commit themselves to obey in an attitude of faith" (de Lassus, 2020).

"It matters little whether the decision is right or not; what matters is that the linchpin agrees with it... If people are made to live with this reality day in, day out -- having no other point of reference than the decrees that emerge from the linchpin, protected by the enclosure -- then their mindset becomes deformed; people don't know who they are anymore..." (de Lassus, 2020).

"People become incapable of expressing personal thought; they can no longer find the words. Should they try to express an opinion that does not conform to the official line, it won't be long before they are discredited and roundly put in their place. Eventually, there will be a physical reaction in the form of sleepless nights, back pains, or other psychosomatic complaints. More serious still, there is a risk that these people may end up self-harming (doing violence or deliberately causing injury to themselves), neglecting personal hygeine, or seeking an escape in some crushing job, or escaping into coercive or recalcitrant behavior, perceived by them as the only way to have some sort of independent existence... it may begin with one person -- who will be dismissed -- then another, and another. At first, outside the community, it will be explained away as some kind of personal failure, a lack of a vocation to this community. But we have to hope that higher authorities (the bishop or superior of the congregation) will quickly take cognizance of these powerful reactions and begin to ask questions" (de Lassus, 2020).

"If the superior is anxious to do what he wants, he has to silence all opposing voices. Except in the case of the headstrong, it will be difficult for a single monk to oppose his superior, if he sees that nobody else seems to be challenging what is going on. It will be easy to convince him that he is misjudging or exaggerating the situation. The danger lies in his discovering that someone else -- or indeed several others -- think like him, which might strengthen his conviction that his perspective might be right after all" (de Lassus, 2020).

"The kindgom of God is not made up of clones, and even if we are all created in the image of God, these images are all different because the Spirit does not like to repeat Himself" (de Lassus, 2020, p. 87).

"There can be, then, a duty to disobey. Whatever might be being asked, the person obeying must make a judgment concerning what is being asked of him: is this in keeping with the law of God or not?" (de Lassus, 2020, p. 103-104).

"Many have been seriously mistaken about this condition of obedience, believing that it meant indiscriminately doing whatever might be commanded, even if it should be against the commandments of God and His Holy Church; in this, they have gone badly astray, for, just as superiors have no power to give any command to do what is against God's commandments, so subordinates, by the same token, have no obligation to obey. Indeed, were they to obey, they would be committed a mortal sin" (de Lassus, 2020, p. 106-107).

"...'chastity of the heart' was violated. This forced intrusion occurs when there is an obligation to reveal the internal forum" (de Lassus, 2020, p. 200).

"A vulnerable person is any person in a state of infirmity, physical or mental deficiency, ot deprivation of personal liberty which, in fact, even occasionally, limits their ability to understand or to want or otherwise resist the offence" (de Lassus, 2020, p. 223).

"This is a tragic error. There is no need to go back over this, as we have discussed it enough already, but it underlines how the notion that the vow of obedience requires unconditional submission can so easily place an all-powerful weapon in the hands of the abuser" (de Lassus, 2020, p. 229).

"The answer is: because people are afraid of victims. Victims have a story to tell, a story that is going to disturb the 'normality' of the group, a family, a school, a society... Some years later, a new and more serious allegation came to light, and this time it was beyond doubt. The problem reported by the two former novices was real, and further victims could have been spared had their testimony been taken seriously" (de Lassus, 2020, p. 247-248).

*some quotes and sections that were particularly interesting to read . Important to have healthy, positive, and loving environments in religious life, as well as in any church, parish, institution, school, organization, corporation, etc. These abuses occur in many different environments, not just within religious life. While abuse happens within the Church, it happens much more often in the public school system. Thus, it is important to create healthy environments everywhere in general, within religious institutions, parishes, churches, schools, hospitals, the medical field, helping professions, the mental health professions, corporations, clubs, ministries, athletic teams, etc. 🌻🪻🤗