Child Sexual Abuse and the Church

Abstract

This chapter considers the issue of child sexual abuse (CSA) within the Roman Catholic Church (the Church) internationally. In particular, the State-facilitated responses in the USA, Ireland and Australia are considered for this study. This includes the function of civil litigation and State inquiry. Such inquiries continue to be extremely important in understanding CSA in Catholic institutions. Internationally, civil litigation and public inquiries have become a substantial response in the survivor’s pursuit of justice and in understanding the breadth and depth of the issues associated with CSA by Roman Catholic clergy (clergy). Such methods are inherently jurisdictional and may not go far enough to challenge the deeply rooted systemic and cultural issues that impact on the ways in which CSA by clergy is perpetrated and managed. Hence, consideration needs to be given as to how the upper echelons of the Church can be brought to account for both primary and secondary abuses in the perpetration and management of CSA by clergy.