The story of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests has sent shock waves around the nation and will not fade from consciousness or the news. We ask, "How could this happen?" And then we ask, "How could the Catholic Church let this continue for so long—in seeming silence and duplicity?" Paul R. Dokecki, a community psychologist at Vanderbilt University, an active Catholic, and a former board member of the National Catholic Education Association, investigates the crisis not only with the eye of an investigative reporter, but with the analytical skills and training of a psychologist as well. Moreover, he lays the foundation for reasonable and practical reform measures.

Through the scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston as well as the earlier, if less well known but momentous, case in the Diocese of Nashville, Dokecki reports on and analyzes what is ultimately an abuse of power—not only by the clergy but by church officials. As distasteful as these instances may be, they are compelling reading, enlightened by the author's abilities to contextualize these events through the lenses of professional ethics, the human sciences, and ecclesiology. According to Dokecki, these and other instances of clergy sexual abuse reveal a systemic deficiency in the structure and the nature of the church itself, one that has prevented the church from adequately dealing with its own worst sins.

Dokecki may shine a spotlight into the church's dark corners—but he does so in the service of enlightenment, calling the church back toward the vision of Vatican II and the spirit of Pope John XXIII—toward a greater transparency, a more open and participatory governance in the church, and for a greatly expanded role for the people of God who make up the church. It is in this way, Dokecki believes, the church will be better able to keep the innocent children of the church safe from harm.

Paul R. Dokecki is a former board member of the National Catholic Education Association, and professor of psychology in Vanderbilt University's Peabody College and graduate Department of Religion.

 Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction
 Value Analytic Perspective
 Plan of the Book
Chapter 1. One Clergy Sexual Abuser's Story
 The Diocesan Setting
 The McKeown Story Begins
 The Nature of McKeown's Sexual Abuse
 The Church Responds
 McKeown Leaves the Active Priesthood
 McKeown Is Finally Arrested
 The McKeown Case Enters the Broader Social Domain
 Victims' Parents File Multimillion Dollar Lawsuits
 Blaming the Victim?
 Further Legal Maneuvering
 The Boston Scandal Enters Public Consciousness
 Questions and Issues Attendant to the McKeown Case 
Chapter 2. Clergy Sexual Abuse in the World
 Moral Crisis or Moral Panic?
 The Journalistic Shot Heard Around the World
 Entering the Clergy Sexual Abuse System
 A Comparative Look at the Clergy Sexual Abuse System in Nashville and Boston
 The contexts
 The priests
 Internal church response
 External church response
 The laity
Chapter 3. Professional Ethics and the Clergy Child Sexual Abuse System
 The Ethics of Human Development and Community
 The Use and Abuse of Power: Professionals Having Sex with Clients
 The Third Position and the Community of Persons
 Historical Perspectives On the Third Position Theory of Community
 Empowerment
 The Institutional Church's Management of Clergy Sexual Abuse
Chapter 4. Human Science Perspectives on the Clergy Sexual Abuse System
 The Organizational Culture of the Catholic Church
 The Ideology of the Catholic Church
 Authoritarianism or Authority?
 The Structures of the Clergy Sexual Abuse System
 Structures facilitating abuse perpetration
 Structures influencing organizational response
 Structures conducive to victim and laity empowerment
 Psychological Sense of Community in the Clergy Sexual Abuse System
 Conclusions from Human Science Analysis of the Clergy Sexual Abuse System
Chapter 5. Ecclesiological Perspectives on the Clergy Sexual Abuse System: The Context of Reform
 The Church's 2002 Efforts to Reform the Clergy Sexual Abuse System: Processes
 and Outcomes
 Cardinal Law secretly meets with Pope John Paul II
 U.S. cardinals summoned to Rome
 U.S. bishops meet in Dallas
 The Vatican responds, the U.S. bishops revise
 U.S. bishops meet in Washington, D.C.
 The Canon Law Society of America interprets the U. S. bishops' essential norms
 Concerns over process
 The Church's Understanding of Itself
 Vatican II reforms related to the clergy sexual abuse system
 Models of the church 
Chapter 6. Toward Reforms Addressing and Preventing Clergy Sexual Abuse
 Rationale for Reforms Addressing the Clergy Sexual Abuse System
 Diversity, Justice, Equality, and Participative Decision Making in 
 the Pursuit of Community
 The Need for Granting Discretion to Church Officials vs. the Lack of the Public's 
 Trust in Church Officials
 Toward the Restoration of Trust in the Church Through Developing More Transparent,
 Open, and Participatory Forms of Church Governance
 Reform at the parish level
 Reform at the diocesan level
 Reform at the national church level
 Reform at the universal church level
Notes
References
 I. Sources Related to the McKeown Affair
 II. Court Documents Related to the McKeown Affair
 III. Sources from Newspapers, Periodicals, and Organizations
 IV. Books, Chapters, Journal Articles
 
 

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Child sexual abuse by clergy, Catholic Church Clergy Sexual behavior, Church renewal Catholic Church, Catholic Church Discipline