Clergy Sexual Abuse Research Articles

Haatbaarden, kleuterneukers en een pannetje soep

Traditional religious groups are frequently under attack in contemporary society. This paper examines the negative framing found in social media. We look into the frame ‘haatbaard’ (‘hate beard’) for fundamentalist Muslims, ‘kleuterneuker’ (‘child fucker’) for clergy sexual abuse, and ‘pannetje soep’(‘soup pot’) for charity. Using framing theory, the paper shows how diagnostic and motivational framing are used to evoke strong negative responses toward orthodox religious groups. The anti-Muslim frame plays primarily on fear, whereas the anti-Catholic frame plays on anger. After examining these frames, the paper discusses the relation between religion, the state, and the public sphere and concludes by discussing the space for orthodox-religious groups in contemporary society and the frames needed to accommodate that.

Clergy Sexual Abuse Litigation: Survivors Seeking Justice. By Jennifer M. Balboni (Boulder: First Forum Press, 2011, 180pp. 43.77)

Balboni identifies her interest as being the processes of official disclosure and the path taken to civil litigation by survivors of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic Clergy. The empirical data, on which this work is based, come in the form of in-depth face-to-face interviews with 22 survivors of clergy sexual abuse who have pursued litigation and 13 of their advocates. Balboni provides a space for survivors’ accounts of the ‘why’ behind their decision making and the impact of civil litigation on their lives to be heard, discussed and contextualized with both clarity and sensitivity. She acknowledges the breadth and depth of survivor responses, and the perspectives of their legal advocates, employing defiance theory, symbolic interaction and other points of analysis, to capture the journey of survivors towards litigation and beyond. Balboni’s work is deeply poignant in its recognition of survivors’ voices, the complex transformative capacity of litigation, the effects of community forming amongst survivors and the complex nature of ‘empowerment’ obtained by survivors through civil litigation. Acknowledging that, for many survivors, litigation becomes a means of identity change and truth telling, Balboni admits that ‘these survivors helped me understand that litigation is more about voice than monetary settlement’ (p. 149). This work is not deeply analytical or theoretically rich but privileges the voices of survivors and their advocates with sufficient frameworks to contextualize and explain participants’ perspectives and experiences.

Towards Future Developments in Penal Law: U.S. Theory and Practice (review)

Reviewed by: Towards Future Developments in Penal Law: U.S. Theory and Practice Christopher R. Armstrong, Pastor, St. Antoninus Church Towards Future Developments in Penal Law: U.S. Theory and Practice. A Symposium held under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, March 5-6, 2009, edited by Patricia M. Dugan. Montreal: Wilson and Lafleur Ltee, 2010. Patricia M. Dugan planned, presented and edited this symposium of seven canonists, including herself. All seven canonists have had vast experience working in the field of penal law, including its ramifications in civil law. Dugan initiates the symposium with a paper on "The Need to Know vs. Confidentiality." She describes confidential communications, gag orders, the pontifical secret, and privilege, showing each one's relationship to the U.S. media. Foley addresses preliminary investigations in which he considers the ordinary's initial response upon receiving an allegation and his options after receiving the investigator's report. Vondenberger investigates the role of the promoter of justice in balancing the rights of the accused and advocate, accusers and witnesses, parishes, and dioceses. Deibel explores the pastoral principles within the penal process articulated in canon 1341, and the need to repair scandal, restore justice, and reform the offender. Robinson explores the collection and evaluation of proofs including: the nature, definition, types and elements of proof; the sources of evidence, especially the role of memory; an evaluation of proofs for their credibility and inherent or assigned value; and a caution about the possible legal consequences of the information gathering process. Lagges surveys the resolution of cases by rescript, penal precept, or decree. These papers offer an important contribution to canonical science in general and penal law in particular. It is a prime example of what Most Rev. Francesco Coccopalmerio called for in his introductory remarks regarding professional collaboration: "It is my belief that every canonist should be engaged in reflecting upon the state of our canonical norms, in evaluating whether the code is up-to-date and coherent, in identifying any lacuna legis, in assessing whether individual norms have been rendered obsolete by the passage of time or changes in circumstances; and, ultimately, suggesting whether and which corrective action should be proposed to the Legislator, that is, the Holy Father." This reviewer agrees with the contributors that a manual of penal procedure similar to the manual of marriage procedure would be helpful to all canonists and others involved in this complex process. Canonists involved in [End Page 295] clergy sexual abuse cases should read this book for information in the science of penal law. Students would profit from the text with its sound approach to the juridical and pastoral aspects of this area of canon law gleaned from professionals' broad experience. Bishops, canonists and those involved in these tragic cases should welcome this valuable book. Christopher R. Armstrong, Pastor, St. Antoninus Church Archdiocese of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio Copyright © 2012 The Catholic University of America Press

The Abuse Crisis and the Medical Profession.

Abstract It is fair to say that all Catholics have been impacted by the clergy sexual-abuse crisis. This crisis has impacted clergy, laity, bishops, the pope, and those outside the Catholic Church. The evil of sexual abuse cannot be underestimated. As noted in the recent John Jay report, victims of sexual abuse can suffer from depression, anxiety, an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, anger and resentment, low self-esteem, shame, and self-blame. Victims often have difficulty trusting others, exhibit antisocial behaviors, have strained interpersonal relationships, and may exhibit behavioral problems, including disordered eating and delinquency, promiscuity, and confusion over sexual identity and orientation. It is even more devastating when the perpetrator of abuse is someone in a position of trust, particularly someone representing a religious institution, as it is often to religion and spirituality that victims will turn for support. We all have a responsibility to work t...

The Church as a Sacrament of Hope

How can Christian hope transform ecclesial life and in turn illumine contemporary culture? The articles by Richard Lennan and Dominic Doyle address this question from different perspectives. Lennan develops and spells out the implications of an ecclesiology based on the church as a sacrament of hope. Doyle examines the nature of hope with particular attention to Aquinas's view, finding resources therein to reflect critically about the clergy sexual abuse crisis, the trauma of modernity, and contemporary ecclesiology's focus on the local church. Responding to these articles, James McEvoy reflects on their authors' views of hope in order to address an issue raised by Doyle. Earlier versions of Lennan's and Doyle's articles were presented at the 2010 annual meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America at a session entitled Hope: The Church's Prophetic Challenge. .

Do Pastoral Counselors Have a Duty to Report Clergy Sexual Abuse Done by Their Clergy Clients?

What does a pastoral counselor do when a clergy client reveals that he or she has been sleeping with a parishioner? Does the counselor have an ecclesiastical duty to report this offense to a church official; or does the pledge of confidentiality trump any disclosure? Some ecclesiastical bodies require their clergy to bring knowledge of these offenses to church authorities. Does this requirement apply to pastoral counselors? The authors have been confronted with these questions in their ministry of pastoral counseling and have struggled with producing a faithful, professional response. Along the way they have not received clear direction from judicatories or professional organizations. This article is the authors' attempt to answer the questions raised above as well as to challenge professional and ecclesiastical bodies to confront more forthrightly the dilemmas these situations cause for pastoral counselors who seek to protect the welfare of the Church as well as protect the pledge to maintain confidentiality.

Transformative justice: survivor perspectives on clergy sexual abuse litigation

This paper examines the motivations of men and women who entered into mass tort litigation against the Catholic Church, primarily the Archdiocese of Boston, which alleged clergy sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests. The study is based on in‐depth interviews with adult survivors of sexual abuse (perpetrated against boys and girls), and with their attorneys and other legal advocates. We explore the challenges faced by survivor‐litigants, as well as their accounts of the subjective experience and meaning of litigation. Our focus is on clarifying petitioners’ multiple objectives and illuminating some of the unanticipated ways in which participation in the case offered possibilities for positive, even transformative, outcomes. The study contributes to our understanding of the course and effects of litigation from the perspective of the litigants, and has important implications for the theoretical literature on the transformation of disputes.

Discovering Records Beneath the Robes

A Brief History of Clergy Sexual Abuse and Mandates of LawSex have been prevalent within Roman Catholic Church for centuries. It is a long-standing, recurring, and widespread existing throughout entire history of Catholic Church. As early as 305 A.D. Council of Elvira, official church records document an institution absorbed in regulating sexual conduct of its clergy-revealing not immoral behavior, but also criminal (Doyle, Sipe, & Wall, 2006, p. 295). Through early medieval period to today, Catholic Church has been regulating sexual behavior and thoroughly documenting clergy's sexual violations. Despite evidence of violations, there was no official system of law to address this within Church until early twentieth century (Doyle & Rubino, 2004, p. 562). At this point, sexual abuse continued, but new mandates of Law enforced an elaborate system of documentation to record allegations, investigations, and other related activities regarding sexual abuse.All cases concerning sexual violations in Church, recent and past, have been well documented within records of institutional church, described as single most powerful element in proving its pattern and practice of protecting abusers, concealing offenses from those who had a right to know, neglecting to warn and protect parishioners, and failing to report crimes (Doyle et al., 2006, p. 217). Not did church maintain thorough and detailed accounts of sexual misconduct, Code of Law enforced a veil of secrecy so great that these records were intentionally concealed to protect reputation of Church at risk of perpetuating patterns of abuse.Canon Law distinguishes between two record types: diocesan and secret archives. The diocesan are considered ordinary, secular, and public by nature. Specific record types include priests' files, containing seminary records, transfer indications, letters of commendation and complaint, and other related matters (Doyle et al., 2006, p. 134). Regarding access to these collections, Canon 487 states that bishop and may have keys to and permission for entry must be obtained from bishop, moderator of curia, or chancellor (Doyle et al., 2006, pp. 134-135). Despite these measures of security, is important to note that records held in diocesan are unrestricted due to their secular nature.A parallel set of restricted records is kept within secret archives, and these are mandated to be kept completely closed and locked, from which cannot be removed (Cafardi, 1993, p. 96). For as long as recordkeeping has existed within church, dioceses were expected to maintain these secret collections, with practice that documents placed in secret have no secular use or existence (Cafardi, 1993, p. 97). Furthermore, because they are restricted collections, only bishop is to have key to secret archives (Doyle et al., 2006, p. 135). The motivation for maintaining in secret may be influenced by power and authority of records themselves, and these secret collections reinforce hierarchical power structure of Church.The climate of secrecy surrounding these is so powerful that the canons do not describe in detail what is to be kept in secret archives (Doyle et al., 2006, p. 135). James O'Toole, former archivist of Boston Diocesan collections, notes that at worst, he thought secret records contained problem priest files, perhaps documenting alcohol abuse (O'Toole, 2007). It is often assumed that archivists have full access to their holdings, and that it is logical to assume that they will discover illegal activities, wrong-doing, and ethical lapses as soon as [or before] anyone else (Cox, 2008, p. 1132). …

American Catholics and Same-Sex “Marriage”

Although Catholic teaching opposes same-sex “marriage,” in America Catholics support SSM more strongly than do Protestants, and states with Catholic majorities are much more likely to regularize homosexual relations. Younger persons support SSM more strongly than do their elders, suggesting that support will continue to grow. The trends in American Catholic thought on this issue exemplify American exceptionalism, moralism, and growing secularism, and reflect catechetical ambiguity, equivocation among the U.S. bishops, elite dissent, and the lingering effects of the clergy sex abuse scandals and the birth control controversy. The issue of same-sex “marriage” (SSM) is the focus of much social, legislative, and legal controversy in the United States. In such controversy the Catholic Church is typically formally aligned with evangelical Protestants and political conservatives in opposing SSM, but the views of American Catholics do not generally conform to this alignment. This study attempts to contribute to the understanding of this variance, and of the issue of SSM, by examining the views of American Catholics on this issue over time, as measured by extensive survey data. Bracketing this empirical examination are initial and concluding sections suggesting a framework for understanding why the Church teaches what it does on this topic and why American Catholics increasingly do not believe that. Church Teaching on Same-sex “Marriage”

Toward a Servant-Led Response Rooted in Forgiveness and Restorative Justice in the Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal

Toward a Servant-Led Response Rooted in Forgiveness and Restorative Justice in the Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal

Canon Law and the Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis: The Failure of the Rule of Law

This article discusses antinomian and legalistic approaches to canon law. Specifically, it explores these approaches to canon law by ecclesiastical authorities in dealing with the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the United States. When canon law functions properly, it maintains the balance between law and spirit in the life of the church. In the United States, the bishops' response to the problem of clergy sexual abuse of minors has combined antinomian and legalistic trends that have diminished the rule of canon law. If bishops had fulfilled their duty to abide by the rule of law, especially in the cases involving clergy who are serial child abusers, they would have communicated to victims, clergy and all concerned that church authorities were taking appropriate steps to protect children. In hindsight, it is easy to see that the bishops' focus on the psychological approach to the exclusion of the canonical has resulted in great injury. The clarity of hindsight, however, ought not result in blame and negativity but open the way for a more hopeful future. An important aspect of responding to the present crisis must entail re-commitment to the rule of law. No law or policy can eradicate sin from the fallen nature of the human situation, including that of the human beings who comprise the priesthood. The proper balance of law and spirit, however, can dispose injured individuals and communities to retrieve a sense of justice that facilitates healing and forgiveness.

The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America. By James M. O'Toole. (Cambridge: Belknap, 2008. 376 pp. $27.95, ISBN 978-0-674-02818-0.)

In this wide-ranging, informative, and interesting book, James M. O'Toole recounts the story of the Catholic church in America through the perspective of the American Catholic laity—“the faithful”—Catholic lay men and women who have remained loyal to the church, notwithstanding its many controversies and imperfections, throughout its long institutional presence in the United States. Writing in the aftermath of Catholicism's most recent institutional crisis—the clergy sexual abuse scandals and the decades-long cover up by some American bishops—O'Toole's presentist intention is readily apparent. He wants to demonstrate that the American church has constantly faced the challenge of change and that in most instances the resulting transformation has been affirmative, especially when it has resulted in more transparency and accountability on the part of the clergy and hierarchy, and greater lay responsibility and participation in church affairs. Seizing on the theme of change, O'Toole takes the reader through six successive eras of the American church from colonial times to the present, while examining the demographic, devotional, ecclesiastical, and relational changes that characterize each era. This last category, which explores the evolving identity of the laity within their own religious communion, proves most informative. O'Toole gives historical meaning to the often-overlooked understanding that the laity “are the church,” a concept forcefully promulgated in the documents of Vatican II and unreservedly endorsed by the author.

Book Review: Before Dallas: The U.S. Bishops' Response to Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children

Book Review: Before Dallas: The U.S. Bishops' Response to Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children

Clericalism, Religious Duress and its Psychological Impact on Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse

Religious duress is a unique kind of threat and constraint involuntarily experienced by some members of the Roman Catholic Church as a result of religious indoctrination and training. Fear, awe and respect for the clergy foster the development and actualization of religious duress. This phenomenon can seriously impede a person’s capacity to accurately perceive and evaluate abusive actions perpetrated on them by clergy. This constraint poses an impediment to emotional and spiritual development. Internalized religious duress confuses and psychologically overwhelms such individuals and renders them incapable of absorbing their sexual trauma. The consequent feelings of numbness and immobility distort the perception of reality. It then becomes impossible for the individual to act in a manner that would protect and promote emotional growth and spiritual well being.

Holding bishops accountable: how lawsuits helped the Catholic Church confront clergy sexual abuse

* Timeline of Events * Introduction * I. An Overview of Clergy Sexual Abuse Litigation *1. A Short History *2. Statistics *3. Legal Issues * II. Litigation and Policymaking *4. Framing Clergy Sexual Abuse as a Problem of Institutional Failure *5. Placing Clergy Sexual Abuse on Policy Agendas *6. Uncovering Concealed Information * III. Tort Litigation as a Policy Venue * Assessing the Results of Clergy Sexual Abuse Litigation * The Complementary Policymaking Role of Tort Litigation * Appendixes * Notes * Acknowledgments * Index

A Unique Betrayal: Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Context of the Catholic Religious Tradition

ABSTRACT The sexual abuse of children and adolescents by Roman Catholic priests entails a violation of meaning as well as persons. Precisely because the priest is regarded by Catholics as an alter Christus, another Christ, his violation of a child's or adolescent's body is also a violation of a sacred trust and worldview. The implications of this violation of meaning are significant for victims of clergy abuse, and are important for therapists to understand. In this sense, healing the mind may also require healing the soul.

Problem and Solution: The Spiritual Dimension of Clergy Sexual Abuse and its Impact on Survivors

ABSTRACT In this paper, we offer a way to understand the spiritual dimension of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse. Spirituality is defined as a search for the sacred—a process of discovery, conservation, and transformation that evolves over the lifespan. We describe the ways in which clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse impacts negatively on the individual's search for the sacred and the ways in which spirituality can serve as a valuable resource for survivors. We then consider how clinicians can draw on the client's spirituality as a source of solutions to problems and how clinicians can address the spiritual problems raised by clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse. Perhaps the greatest challenge for mental health professionals is to become better acquainted with the multifaceted nature of spiritual life.

Survivors' Perspectives on the Impact of Clergy Sexual Abuse on Families of Origin

ABSTRACT Clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse rose to public attention in 2002 through the disclosure of abuse by Catholic priests within the Archdiocese of Boston and a simultaneous cover-up by church hierarchy. Similar patterns have since been described in other Catholic dioceses and in other faith denominations. While recent studies have examined the impact of such abuse on adult survivors, little is known about the impact on their families of origin. Using the Trauma Transmission and Empowerment models and the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response model, this paper examines the impact of such abuse on families from male survivors' perspectives. A five-phased approach to reconciliation within families and dialogue with the church community is discussed to highlight communication as a core theme to healing.

Introduction to Special Issue on Betrayal and Recovery: Understanding the Trauma of Clergy Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT The sexual abuse of children can leave profound emotional and psychological scars that reverberate through the entire lifecycle. In this volume, the sexual abuse of children and adults perpetrated by clergy is considered. The editors have provided a cross section of authors to examine the unique aspect of this form of trauma, with particular emphasis on providing a voice for the survivors of such abuse.

Investigating attitudes of Catholic priests toward the media and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops Response to the Sexual Abuse Scandals of 2002

Since 2002, researchers have investigated the incidence of clergy sexual abuse and the perceptions and attitudes of non-ordained Catholics toward the responses of the U.S. Catholic bishops. The perceptions of functioning Catholic priests were investigated in 2002. There has been little follow-up research about priests who have never been accused of sexual misconduct. Using non-probability sampling techniques, this study employed a structured format to confidentially interview 22 Catholic priests in 2006 and 2007. The interviews yielded themes around the reporting of the events of 2002 by the media, and the response of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to the crisis and the media. Findings suggest that most priest-respondents believed that the media had accurately reported that the bishops had engaged in a cover-up. Most respondents believed that the media had portrayed all priests as pedophiles. Most priest-respondents believed the response of the USCCB was inadequate, poorly conceived, and generated to satisfy public pressure. Most respondents believed that bishops had abandoned their priests and compromised the canonical rights of priests. Finally, several priest respondents identified a double standard in the process and outcome by which allegations against priests and bishops are handled.