An Eastern Catholic woman shares her experiences of Fr. Lewis Rabayda's alleged spiritual abuse
A laywoman says that her priest habitually violated professional boundaries and that church officials have not held him accountable.
In this audio episode, an Eastern Catholic woman living in the United States shares her story of how a priest’s alleged subtle and sustained inappropriate behavior towards her shattered her mental health and damaged her faith.
Fr. Lewis Rabayda and other Eparchy of Passaic officials did not respond to a request to comment on this interview.
If you appreciate my journalism and advocacy for adult victims of Catholic clergy misconduct, please consider buying me a coffee. ☕
Thank you so much for sharing your story. As a survivor of boundary violations and spiritual abuse myself, there were things that stuck out to me as common themes. Being newer to the regular practice of the faith or a "baby Catholic", fishing for emotional intimacy, interactions being different in private vs. in public, and delays in sharing with your therapist. As Dan discussed in the podcast, priests are very aware of what boundaries they are responsible for keeping and what conduct policies they must follow. It takes a special kind of disregard for the human dignity of others (some would call it a special kind of evil), to push the line in every way you know you can to get everything you think you can without crossing a line that will get you formally punished. To put it more plainly, this type of priest wants a relationship with a woman. They create one and go as far as they think that can get.....delighting in their ability to become an area of importance in someone's life especially if they can overtake a spouse or romantic partner. Olivia you are absolutely right when you said something about what in the world it is that we are doing wrong. By listening, following the advice or the boundary cues of a person who is responsible for steering the ship? With what would we compare it with? Why would we expect to be led anywhere except where we should be by a person we're told to trust? Such a monstrous and profound betrayal.
Thank you, Olivia, for refusing to be silenced. The truth is like a lion; set it free, it will defend itself. ~St Augustine
Much gratitude to Dan for shining a light on this.