In summer 2010, Robert Orsi, Terence McKiernan, and I began a conversation about the sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.…
Revisited: Sex abuse and the study of religion
bishopaccountability.org
Encountering the archive
Where on earth to begin with the rich but deeply disturbing material presented to us on BishopAccountability.org? (For an example,…
Sister Martin Ignatius explains not very much at all for you
Ever since I was first asked to offer reflections on the study of religion and the Catholic sex abuse crisis, it…
The church, the state, and the child
The child, as the psychoanalytic theorist Adam Phillips points out, “remains our most convincing essentialism.” By this he means that at…
The curious case of Paul Richard Shanley
In the discursive regime of sexual abuse, the operative silence is the victim’s. This silence stems from shame and intimidation.…
Abusing rhetoric
Many of these documents are appalling in the way that bureaucratic recitals of torture are appalling, in the way that ledgers…
Separationism and the sex abuse crisis
While greatly admiring the other pieces in this series and the humanist sensibility and critique that pervades them, I will…
Placing childhood sexual abuse in historical perspective
One of the major achievements of the past quarter century has been the growing awareness of the prevalence and damaging…