Managing
Scrupulosity

You too can experience relief with the help we provide.

Father Thomas M. Santa, C.Ss.R.

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Father Thomas M. Santa, C.Ss.R. was professed as a Redemptorist in 1973 and ordained a priest in June of 1978.

Managing Scrupulosity: Our Pastoral Service

Managing Scrupulosity is a service from the priest director of the monthly newsletter “Scrupulous Anonymous.” This newsletter, a pastoral service from Liguori Publications (A Roman Catholic Media Company), has been published since 1964. Some people, not only Catholics but people from all different walks in life and religious practices, including people who have no preferred religious practice, suffer from scrupulosity, a religious manifestation of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The fear and anxiety that they feel as a result of this disorder prevents them from making good decisions in specific areas of their moral life, often to the point of serious debilitation and suffering.

 

The management of scrupulosity is a life-long commitment to healing and integration. Unfortunately, there are no short cuts. There is no such thing as “one size fits all.” That is the bad news, the difficult truth. The good news, the hopeful truth is that all is not lost. There is a path that can be navigated that will bring some relief and provide some sense of progress.

Managing Scrupulosity
An Introduction

In January 1996 Father Patrick Kaler, C.Ss.R. died suddenly at the age of sixty-five years old. Still a young man by most current standards of measurement he suffered from heart disease and passed as a result of a heart attack. At the time of his passing he was a member of the staff at Liguori Publications, and most important of all, the long-serving Director of Scrupulous Anonymous. His passing required that a new director be named, and I stepped in “temporarily” until we were able to find a new director. Soon I will celebrate twenty-five years of this “temporary” assignment.

For the last twenty-five years I have written a monthly newsletter, with two interruptions in the process necessitated by a change in assignment. However, never, in those twenty-five years was there even a moment when I was not answering questions, conducting retreats, attending and leading workshops, and serving as a resource person for people who suffer with the disorder. It has been a privileged time for me and a wonderful opportunity to learn, and I needed to learn quite a bit.

Father Kaler and I shared some qualities, but we do not share an essential condition: I am not scrupulous while Father Kaler was. He would carefully study the many questions that he received and would struggle to find an answer that seemed to him to be useful and pastoral. I do not necessarily struggle to discern a direction or to provide a pastoral response. My challenge, something that I have patiently learned over these last years, is to discover the many manifestations of the scrupulous disorder. I try to discover and adequately explain to the readers of the newsletter the dynamic and the consequences of the struggle with scrupulosity.

Educational
Resources

Educational videos, Mindfulness meditations, and Minute Meditations for Mindfulness

SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES

* Family and Friends Support Groups
* Peer Support Opportunities
* Mentor Program / Support

FOR THE PRIEST/ CONFESSOR

* How to best minister to the scrupulous person.
* Scheduling a workshop in your (arch)Diocese for confessor training.

Managing Scrupulosity: Spiritual Directors

Fr. Thomas M. Santa, CSsR

Father Thomas M. Santa C.Ss.R.

Fr. Tat Hoang, CSsR

Father Tat Tang T. Hoang, C.Ss.R.

Fr. Paul J. Coury, CSsR

Father Paul Coury, C.Ss.R.

Lm. Chung Tran,
C.Ss.R

Dr. Nikki Verploegen

Dr. Nicki
Verploegen

Rev. Richard Britton, III

Rev. Richard Britton, III

Father Thomas M. Santa, C.Ss.R.

Father Thomas M. Santa, C.Ss.R. the priest director of the Scrupulous Anonymous newsletter, has ministered to people with scrupulosity for more than twenty years. He is an associate faculty member and former director of the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, Arizona. He has also served as pastor of St. Michael Parish in Old Town, Chicago, and as President/Publisher of Liguori Publications.

Father Santa is the author of many books, pamphlets, and newsletters, including all three editions of Understanding Scrupulosity: Questions and Encouragement, 3rd Edition (Liguori Publications, 2017) and The Essential Bible Handbook (Liguori Publications, 2002). He offers retreats for people with scrupulosity and workshops on scrupulosity for pastoral ministers and professional therapists.

Books may be purchased at: www.Liguori.org

Managing Scrupulosity
Testimonials