The Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis: Reform and Renewal in the Catholic Community
by Paul R. Dokecki
Georgetown University Press, 2004 Paper: 978-1-58901-006-2 Library of Congress Classification BX1912.9.D65 2004 Dewey Decimal Classification 261.83272088282
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
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.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
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.
REVIEWS
-- Edward Vacek, SJ, professor of moral theology, Weston Jesuit School of Theology and author of Love, Human and Divine: The Heart of Christian Ethics
-- Jason Berry, author of Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children and coauthor (with Gerald Renner) of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II
-- Voice of the Faithful Newsletter
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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
The Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis: Reform and Renewal in the Catholic Community
by Paul R. Dokecki
Georgetown University Press, 2004 Paper: 978-1-58901-006-2
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.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
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.
REVIEWS
-- Edward Vacek, SJ, professor of moral theology, Weston Jesuit School of Theology and author of Love, Human and Divine: The Heart of Christian Ethics
-- Jason Berry, author of Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children and coauthor (with Gerald Renner) of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II
-- Voice of the Faithful Newsletter
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC