Theological (De)formations? The Sex Abuse Crisis in the Context of Nuptial Ecclesiology and the Theology of Priesthood

Abstract

This essay asks if postconciliar ecclesiology has resulted in a shift from a patriarchal to a phallic theology of priesthood. Drawing on research into priests who abuse and on evidence of a rise in clericalism among younger priests, the author explores ways in which Hans Urs von Balthasar’s nuptial theology and Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (ToB) might contribute to an exaggerated emphasis on anatomical sexual difference to justify the exclusive masculinity of the sacramental priesthood. Sexual analogies used by Balthasar and advocates of ToB find tragic expression in the conflicted identities of priestly abusers, whose idealization of the purity of the celibate priesthood contrasts with the self-loathing aroused by their abusive sexual appetites. A transformation of the symbolics of gender is essential if the dysfunctional dynamics of masculine clerical power are to yield to a more life-affirming ecclesiology.