Catholic Universities Not Doing Enough to Address Sex Abuse Crisis

By Massimo Faggioli
LaCroix International
April 9, 2019

https://international.la-croix.com/news/catholic-universities-not-doing-enough-to-address-sex-abuse-crisis/9860

The separation between Church management (the hierarchy) and its research and development department (theologians) is one of the most serious problems facing the Catholic Church.Thomas Reese, the former editor-in-chief (1998-2005) of the Jesuit magazine America, identified this problem back in 1996 in his book, Inside the Vatican.And although the book was published two pontificates ago, Reese's premise remains true. In fact, the situation is even worse now than it was nearly 25 years ago.One of the effects of the latest phase of the Catholic abuse crisis, which started in 2018, is that it has offered us some historical perspective on the Church's management-research dichotomy.The sexual abuse crisis has been long in the making. It became public in the mid-1980s and its turning point was 2001-2002 in the United States. This opened the eyes of many to what had happened in that North American country and what was bound to happen in other countries as well.Abusive priests, negligent bishopsThe modern history of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has also solidified a certain ecclesiological narrative: namely, we are dealing with a systemic crisis caused by abusive priests and catastrophically mishandled by the episcopal hierarchy.This narrative is true and now impossible to undo. But it's only part of the truth.Unpopular as it may be to say this, the Church has failed in yet another way in dealing with the phenomenon. It concerns its intellectual and academic sectors; that is, the research and development people or theologians.If one looks at the history of major catastrophes in complex organizations, such as public health crises...