A recent report explores how a culture of clericalism contributes to the cover-up of sexual abuse by clergy within the Catholic Church. The study reveals a widespread belief amongst church personnel that a repression of sexuality, unhealthy power dynamics in Catholic settings and dated views on gender amongst church leaders foster a culture during which speaking up about wrongdoings is difficult.
The report, “‘Beyond Bad Apples’: Understanding Clergy Perpetrated Sexual Abuse as a Structural Problem & Cultivating Strategies for Change,” was researched and written by two professors on the Jesuit-sponsored Santa Clara University, Julie Hanlon Rubio and Paul J. Schutz. Dr. Rubio, who teaches Christian ethics on the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, and Dr. Schutz, a teacher within the university’s religious studies department, interviewed lots of of priests, members of spiritual communities and lay people working within the church to collect insight in regards to the church’s culture and offer ideas for priests and laypeople to scale back a culture of clericalism.
“For many individuals, the concept of clericalism is familiar, it’s something they’ve heard about and yet we don’t have a typical understanding of it.” Dr. Rubio told America. “We actually do think that the majority people’s understanding is that it’s pretty individual.”
Clericalism, the report argues, is a systemic issue that creates unhealthy environments within the church, and never a phenomenon unique to certain bad actors.
Clericalism, the report argues, is a systemic issue that creates unhealthy environments within the church, and never a phenomenon unique to certain bad actors.
Quite a few Catholic researchers have argued for years that a culture of clericalism perpetuated abuse. More recently, church leaders from Pope Francis to diocesan parish priests have publicly agreed with that sentiment. In 2018, the pope said clericalism had allowed abuse and its cover-up to flourish within the church.
But the brand new report seeks to spotlight how clericalism exists as a system that harms even individual actors within the church who would describe themselves as being against it.
“Relatively than describing clericalism as a person reality—an issue of ‘bad apples’—this study maps clericalism as a structural reality shaped by the interaction of three forces: sex, gender, and power,” the authors write.
Several contemporary and historical realities contribute to a culture of clericalism within the church, the report contends, which is exacerbated by an absence of opportunities for priests to debate sexuality, the isolating of priests from the laity and little skilled interaction between seminarians and lay women.
The report notes that lay people and priests can each perpetuate clericalism within the church, and that understanding how clericalism contributes to an environment where sexual abuse is roofed up “needn’t oppose priesthood nor demonize priests.”
The brand new report seeks to spotlight how clericalism exists as a system that harms even individual actors within the church who would describe themselves as being against it.
The researchers interviewed about 300 people for the report, including priests, members of spiritual communities and lay Catholics. Nearly half the respondents were laypeople and the report notes that no diocesan seminarians participated. The report found that respondents who had received Jesuit training felt more prepared to confront the challenges of ministering inside a culture of clericalism. Still, all respondents agreed that systems exist within the church that make ending abuse difficult.
About 40 percent of priests and men in formation for the priesthood took part within the study identified as homosexual, far higher than the overall population. The report cites studies showing that homosexuality shouldn’t be a root cause for the church’s abuse crisis, but notes that the church’s teaching against homosexuality creates a culture of secrecy amongst priests who discover as gay.
“The concentration of gay men within the priesthood can’t be ignored because most priests will not be in a position to be open about their sexual orientation,” the report states, “and a few may consciously or unconsciously hunt down priesthood as a way of avoiding or repressing their sexuality, making healthy celibacy extraordinarily difficult.”
A culture of silence around the truth of gay priests, along with “widespread sexual repression” and a lack of expertise about gender, creates conditions where secrecy and protecting the institution change into primary concerns.
To combat that culture, the brand new report suggests Catholics adopt “anti-clericalism” attitudes and practices. Those can be based on promoting healthy sexual integration for celibate priests, holding up positive examples of masculinity and femininity and empowering the laity to work alongside ordained clergy.
To combat that culture, the brand new report suggests Catholics adopt “anti-clericalism” attitudes and practices.
“When male clergy select secrecy over exposure, they’re protecting male spaces of information and power,” the report states.
The report also found church environments, especially Catholic seminaries, offer few probabilities for priests and people studying to change into priests to interact with women.
“Just as networks enable men in entertainment, sports and politics to guard male power and privilege while disadvantaging their female colleagues, clerical networks protect men who abuse each minors and adults,” the report finds.
In relation to coping with their sexuality, about half of priests who took part within the survey said “repression or sublimation were presented to them as strategies.” Just half of the priests and people studying to change into priests said they felt they got “the tools they needed for living a celibate life without denying their sexuality.”
The survey also found many priests and deacons who participated felt they were open to feedback however the lay respondents said they didn’t feel comfortable offering critiques on things like preaching. That dynamic, the authors said, “often shields clergy from criticism and maintains a established order characterised by silence.”
The report, which was funded with a grant from Fordham University as a part of an initiative to confront sexual abuse at Jesuit institutions, says that each one Catholics have a task to play in changing the culture of the church in an effort to prevent clergy sexual abuse and its cover-up.
Dr. Rubio said that parishes and schools that rely solely on protected environment training are “missing the boat” in relation to making church-affiliated institutions truly protected.
“This can be a relational reality, a structural reality,” she said. “And a part of the take care of structures is that they work on us even once we’re not aware of them and even once we don’t wish to act a certain way.”
As a substitute, stopping abuse and its cover-up will take a concerted effort amongst priests, members of spiritual communities and laity to grasp the foundation causes of why certain behaviors have been tolerated in these spaces.
Those ideas include creating spaces where priests and seminarians can have honest discussions about sexuality, clear understanding about appropriate boundaries between priests and adult lay people, opportunities to review gender, and empowering the laity.
“We hope these recommendations might assert some small influence on the formation of future priests, deacons and lay ministers, driving the Church away from the evils of structural clericalism and fostering recent ways of being the Body of Christ which might be consistent with the Gospel proclamation of life, love, and liberation for all God’s people,” the authors state.
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