Understanding Scrupulosity

Drawing on a quarter century of letters and replies printed in the SA newsletter, this guide speaks to people caught in scrupulosity and to the friends, confessors and counselors who want to help them. Its aim is to make the condition easier to understand and to offer spiritual guidance for those who feel lost in doubt.

Sufferers often describe scrupulosity as intrusive thoughts that refuse to leave, a flood of alarming imagined scenes, or a steady, unrelenting sting like repeated pinpricks. The author notes that tens of thousands of people live with it, and that many of them are Catholic. Their anxieties tend to gather around sin, confession, self-worth, sexuality, prayer, whether God truly forgives, and the meaning of their thoughts, dreams and fantasies.

Father Santa writes in a calming voice, aiming to ease these fears and bring back a settled peace of mind and heart. The book is also intended for confessors and professionals in pastoral and helping roles who meet this struggle in their work.