Clergy Sexual Misconduct Against Adults in the Roman Catholic Church: The Misuse of Professional and Spiritual Power in the Sexual Abuse of Adults

Abstract

This article describes and discusses the power–vulnerability intersect in thelives of 23 women and 6 men who experienced clergy sexual misconductagainst adults (CSMAA) within the everyday life of the Roman CatholicChurch. It argues that framing CSMAA around a ‘vulnerable victim’ ratherthan an ‘abusive cleric’ has led to the misinterpretation and continuation ofCSMAA, and an overall attitude of victim blaming. However, when victims/survivors of CSMAA are given the opportunity to tell their stories, a differentpicture emerges. The article concludes that CSMAA does not occur becausethere is a vulnerable adult but, rather, because there is a cleric willing tomisuse their powers to abuse adult vulnerabilities. This article also arguesthat the unique dynamics of CSMAA become more evident andunderstandable when those clergy powers and adult vulnerabilities areclearly delineated as being both positional and personal realities.

Reproductive Abuse in the Context of Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

“…Unfortunately, numbers, case studies and sources on sexual abuse of adults at the hands of Catholic clergy are still relatively scarce (Chibnall et al 1998;Sands 2003;De Weger and Death 2017;Reisinger 2018;Haslbeck et al 2020), whereas research on CSA involving minors has boomed recently, producing a wide range of numbers and data that include evidence on cases of reproductive abuse. For this reason, this study must limit itself to cases involving minors, but there is no doubt that these cases can still shed light on dynamics that will certainly be the same or very similar in cases involving adult victims.…”

Insincerity, Secrecy, Neutralisation, Harm: Reporting Clergy Sexual Misconduct against Adults—A Survivor-Based Analysis

“…This insincerity was particularly revealed when survivors did not submissively comply with RCC processes offered, or how it was being offered. Much of this insincerity could be traced back to the RCC's own ambivalence about clergy sexual activity and misconduct, not to mention being caught off guard about that ambivalence ( de Weger and Death 2017).…”

#ChurchToo: Rethinking purity culture and reforming evangelicalism

“…A specific kind of spiritual abuse that is gaining increasing recognition is Clergy Sexual Abuse, a newly developing category which recognizes that a person cannot freely give consent to sexual relations with someone who is in the role of providing them with spiritual or pastoral care (“Clergy Sexual Abuse Research”, 2021). This includes adults, an understanding that is a notable nuance within the older history of the most high‐profile cases in the Catholic church, which has overwhelmingly focused on the abuse of children (which is not to suggest that abuse of adults has not occurred in the Catholic context, simply that less research has been conducted to date, De Weger & Death, 2017). #ChurchToo has helped bring attention and understanding to the power differentials involved in clergy abuse of adult congregants.…”