The Psychedelic Renaissance: A Catholic Perspective.
Linacre Q September 15, 2024 Thomas Carroll 4 citations
A growing body of research claims that psychedelic compounds produce benefits—for mental illness, addiction, recreation, or personal enhancement—by inducing a psychedelic mystical experience (PME). Whether PME is purely psychological or involves contact with extramental reality is debated. This paper examines PME and psychedelic use from a Catholic theological perspective, comparing PME with traditional Catholic mysticism, and offers recommendations on whether and under what conditions the Catholic faithful may licitly use psychedelics. It aims to reconcile empirical data with Catholic philosophy and theology and invites further conversation on this challenging topic.