French victims petition Pope Leo XIV over spiritual abuse

A group representing 214 victims and relatives of spiritual abuse within 37 French religious communities has issued a letter to Pope Leo XIV requesting concrete preventative and responsive measures. Published in La Croix, the letter calls for the clear definition of spiritual abuse in canon law, the establishment of independent reporting bodies, and mandatory training for new postulants regarding their rights and responsibilities.

The signatories, including Bénédicte Nolet de Brauwere, Fr. Gabriel Laguarigue de Survilliers, and Fabio Barbero, noted that while the Pope’s encyclical Magnifica humanitas acknowledges spiritual abuse, its denunciation often remains secondary to sexual abuse. The group emphasized that spiritual abuse causes profound trauma, including loss of faith, psychological collapse, and a sense of being manipulated in the name of God.