A Theology of Voice: VOCAL and the Catholic Clergy Abuse Survivor Movement

Abstract

Victims of Clergy Abuse Linkup (VOCAL/Linkup) was among the first and most prominent advocacy organizations for American survivors of childhood clergy sexual abuse. Linkup survivors recognized the spiritual dimensions of their abuse, which they called "soul murder," and they sought healing and justice through a systemic and distinctively Catholic discourse about the divine powers of "voice." This article names that discourse "a theology of voice" and analyzes VOCAL's history through its leaders' speeches and writings, including those preserved in its newsletter, The Missing Link. For survivors in VOCAL, "voice" was the foundation for transforming oneself from "victim" to "survivor," the first step toward justice and the moral lens through which ecclesiastical accountability could be judged. Although VOCAL/Linkup no longer exists, its theology of voice predominates American discourse about clergy sexual abuse. Linkup's theology of voice also provides a glimpse at an alternate configuration of the ongoing clergy abuse crisis, one in which victims and bishops might collaborate on spiritual repair and institutional reform.