Sex and Broken Boundaries in the Catholic Church ― The Consequences and Implications of the Sex Abuse Crisis

The Roman Catholic Church, along with other religious and non-religious institutions, has been embroiled in a series of sexual abuse scandals during the last decades. In response, a variety of important measures have been introduced to eradicate the possibility of further abuse, with particular attention given to issues around safeguarding. However, research has tended to focus on the individual pathology of each perpetrator. In contrast, this collection brings a systematic and inter-disciplinary methodology to bear on the distinctive cultural and organisational realities of Catholicism and its underpinning theology. This is in order to test the claim that they are significant contributing factors to a culture that enabled abusive behaviour to become a possibility.

Written by a panel with expertise in the theological, ecclesiological, psychological and legal implications of abuse, this book addresses issues such as the spiritual dynamics of sexual abuse; restorative justice; and psychological issues related to abuse by clergy. It also broadens the discussion to include the place of children of clergy and sexual misconduct between priests and women in the context of spiritual direction.

Seeing to constructively build a broader understanding of transgressive and abusive behaviour by clergy in the Church, this is vital reading for any academic of Theology, Religious Studies, Psychology and Law who wants to better understand the dynamics at work in these instances of abuse.

Chris Cook is a Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University, UK, and is the Director of the Project for Spirituality, Theology & Health. He is also an honorary consultant psychiatrist with Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust; Vice President of the British Association for the Study of Spirituality; an Executive Editor of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality and was Chair of the Executive Committee of the Special Interest Group in Spirituality & Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 2009-2013.

Paul Murray is the Dean and Director of the Centre for Catholic Studies within the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University, UK. From 2006-2011 Murray served on the Editorial Board of Concilium International, and in 2011 he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the third phase of work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) and in 2012 as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Marcus Pound is the Assistant Director of the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University, UK. His interests are twofold, theology at the intersection of continental philosophy and psychoanalysis. In this regard he has published two texts. Theology, Psychoanalysis, and Theology (2007), and Zizek: a (very) critical introduction (2008).