Nisi Causa Utili et Necessaria: Catherine of Siena's Dominican Confessors and the Principles of a Licit Pastoral 'Irregularity'

Abstract

The Dominican Order gradually evolved rules governing contact between a Dominican pastor and a woman penitent. In the context of these rules, the care given to Catherine of Siena as reported by Raymund of Capua and as confirmed in the letters of Catherine herself can only be termed irregular. The paper attempts to identify the principles underlying and legitimating pastoral irregularity.