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PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY
The Christian spiritual adviser comes in contact with many of
these cases, because people who suffer in this manner are often
deeply devout.
There are different degrees of scrupulosity and it has varying
results. The adviser should always remember that it is a
condition for medical diagnosis and treatment. The Catholic rules for
confessors emphasise this. The penitent is to be so treated that
the spiritual adviser does not usurp the responsibility of the
physician, who is alone competent to deal with the mental or
physical cause of these disturbances.
Schulte is of the opinion that most of the writings of moral
theologians about scrupulosity need a thorough overhaul. He
gives examples to illustrate his point. Among other things
popular ascetic-religious literature can do great harm to
scrupulous people. He thinks there should even be a special
Prayer Book for their use. ‘The scrupulous have a special love
of religious literature,’ he writes. ‘No other group of people keep
so many devotional books. They hunger for religion and
religious experiences, and continually look for new ways and
means of gaining liberation from their anxiety and the
satisfaction of their religious hungers.’
Intensity of scruple may increase and diminish during the
course of the disease. In spite of the fact that it may not be
possible to diagnose the condition or analyse it completely, it
would be wrong to assume that it is wholly imaginary. It has
the same source as other functional nervous disturbances, and is
just as real.
Religious Signs of Scrupulosity
Belton’s! analysis of the religious signs that distinguish a
scrupulous individual from other enquirers is very interesting.
On very superficial grounds, or none at all, the sufferer
revises his judgment. A thing is regarded as permissible at one
moment and forbidden the next. He fears to commit sin by
doing something that an understanding adviser has already
said is allowable, and which other conscientious people do
without hesitation. He is fearful lest he sin, but cannot explain
` his anxiety. He stubbornly maintains his own point of view and
| has no faith in the verdict of other people or his spiritual
1 Op. cit.
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