Turpin, H. (2021) Book Review: 'The Abuse of Minors in the Catholic Church: Dismantling the Culture of Cover Ups' (edited by Blasi & Oviedo) (original) (raw)
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Clericalism and Sex Abuse of Minors in the Catholic Church
An earlier article, "The Pathology of Religious Institutions," gave an understanding of the clerical sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church from the point of view of sociology and social institution. But religion is also a cultural system, and this article examines the scandal from the perspective of the culture of clericalism in the Catholic Church.
Theological Incoherence, Clerical Sexual Abuse and The Unnatural Clergy
Every new revelation of clerical sexual abuse of children and subordinates, each fresh exposure of a complicit hierarchy covering up the crimes and protecting the criminals, each additional case of sordid homosexuality among the clergy, erodes the moral credibility of the Church. Yet, when indictments are made, blame falls almost exclusively on guilty individuals, those few who got caught. Meanwhile, the Church-its institutions, cherished beliefs and practices-sails through, relatively unchallenged. But, now, when cases of individual perpetrators multiply, questions must be raised about the institutional body of which together they form a whole. When these individual acts are so commonplace across the Catholic world as to defy containment within national borders, the system itself must be held responsible. This essay probes the grounds of institutionalized Catholic thinking about the priesthood, sex and sexuality in order urge theological and practical reform. Some distinctions and stipulations are helpful.
Chapter 5: Clericalism, Celibacy, and Clerical Sexual Abuse: A Sociological-Theological Analysis
Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Religion, 2023
This chapter attempts to sociologically examine whether clericalism as asserted by some scholars is really the main enabler of clerical sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. It argues that clericalism as an ecclesial culture is only a reflection of the material conditions of the cleric-centered ecclesial governance that is founded on clerical celibacy. It contends that the main enabler of clergy sexual abuse is not clericalism but the cleric-centered social structure that eliminates lay participation in the formal ecclesial supervision of clerical behavior as the root cause of clergy sexual misconduct. The celibate priesthood concentrates ecclesiastical power on the clergy, weakening lay empowerment and the institutional system of checks and balances against clerical sexual abuse. This chapter recommends married priesthood to improve the institutional social control of the Catholic Church against clergy sexual abuse.
Masculinity, relationships and Context: Child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church
Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 2015
This paper provides background to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in Ireland and outlines the particular Irish dimensions to the problem. It argues that a systemic perspective offers best promise to conceptualise the problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and outlines. In turning to how the problem has been investigated by statutory and church commissioned inquiries and commissions of investigation (Murphy, 2009; Ryan, 2009) it becomes apparent that how the past is investigated and framed is not merely a neutral matter, but one that is complexly interwoven with present politic and changing social conditions. In offering a critique of the Murphy Report into the Handling of Abuse Complaints in the Archdioceses of Dublin (Murphy, 2009), as one example of a statutory commission of investigation in Ireland, some significant legal and methodological issues are raised that give cause for concern regarding some of the findings and judgements made. What cannot be dispu...
In Search of a Historiography of Clergy Sexual Abuse
U.S. Catholic History, 2023
Clergy sexual abuse has become a key area of interest in the study of U.S. Catholic history. For decades, survivors and whistleblowers have written passionately about the pain and scandal of clerical abuse. Journalists and social scientists have described their suffering as a "crisis" caused by individual and organizational pathologies, while lawyers and criminologists have advocated for financial and carceral solutions. Questions of religion and history took a backseat to these framings of clerical abuse as deviant, clinical, and judicial. After a recent influx of new resources, American Catholic historians now have the opportunity to reshape the discourse by contextualizing clergy sexual abuse within Catholic history and culture. Although this work has just begun, emerging projects suggest that intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches might unlock new ways of understanding not just clergy abuse but also the related topics of Catholic childhood, gender, and sexuality.
Doing Theology and Theological Ethics in the Face of the Abuse Crisis, eds. Daniel Fleming, James Keenan, SJ, and Hans Zollner, SJ, Journal of Moral Theology No. 3, 2023 (CTWEC Book Series, No. 3), 2023
There are two dominant approaches that have characterized and shaped our understanding of the abuse crisis in the Church. The first is the dominant approach of investigative journalism, and the second is the courtroom. Distinct from these, it is important an historiographical approach, which aims at understanding the abuse crisis as a complex historical phenomenon. Such an approach can open up a deeper comprehension of the roots of abuse, its cover up, and the failure to respond adequately to it.