(OSV News) With a kiss, Judas betrayed Jesus.
With a kiss or other intimate touch, some people with power and influence betray the trust placed in them by those in their care.
A number of recent scandals in the Church involving allegations of sexual grooming and abuse of adults may tempt us to despair. There is, however, an opportunity for the Church to move from such scandal to transformation.
Recently, concerns have been expressed about possible grooming in the relationship of Father Alex Crow, formerly of Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile, Alabama, with a now 18-year-old woman.
Outrage erupted when news spread about the incardination of dismissed Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik, an alleged abuser of adult women in his spiritual care, into the Diocese of Koper, Slovenia. Similarly, there were reports in 2000-1 that women religious in several African countries were sexually exploited by priests.
Locally and globally, there is much work to be done to safeguard adults in the Church — not only in faith communities, but also in families, workplaces, and institutions of higher learning — where adult men and women are sometimes at risk of being abused by those in positions of perceived, or real, authority.
Regardless of the setting, when one person holds more spiritual, physical or financial power over another, what some see as consenting sexual activity may often be compliance — a situation wherein a victim feels they have no choice, or that they will offend or hurt the feelings of a predator who holds great psychological or spiritual sway over them.
The reality of abuse
Those adults sexually abused by clergy with whom I have spoken fall into one of two categories: those who engaged in the activity through grooming, and those who did so through compulsion. These male and female victims were from the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations.
Three women shared with me that in the context of spiritual direction or marriage counseling, priests have pointed to the close spiritual friendship between St. Francis and St. Clare to begin a process of grooming them towards more intimacy. Holding hands while praying and conflating spiritual and physical love are among the techniques used to cross professional boundaries.
Other women in financial distress were employed by pastors who demanded sexual favors. Trauma researchers point to four different ways that people respond to threats: flight, fight, freeze and fawn. Fawning, in these cases, pleased their abusers, and meant being able to put food on the family table.
Although those who deal with Church canon law and criminal law tend to assign a specific age of legal consent to sexual activity, coercion founded upon a spiritual, emotional, economic or psychological dependency that has created a vulnerable state within a victim deeply impacts the reality (and exposes the limitations) of legal consent.
The question must be asked: How do we, as the Body of Christ, recognize and respond to the victimization of adults and bring justice and healing to their suffering?
Good news
The good news about these scandals is that they are in the news. We are hearing about them, so we can take steps to prevent them.
Bishops and diocesan employees must create policies tackling abuse of adults and procedures on how victims may report when they believe they have been abused. Training must be advanced to help the faithful spot signs of grooming or coercion when seeking spiritual care. A sample template with such information is available in the “Resources” section of www.angelasheart.ca.
Just as the Catholic Church led the way in providing educational, medical and social services to the society at large, the Church can and should lead efforts to address power imbalances that can lead to the sexual abuse of trusting adults. Having facilitated discussions at the parish level on the abuse crisis, I have learned that many don’t have the opportunity or the skill to express their own feelings on the matter.
If we, as the People of God, embrace this continuing and heavy cross of sexual abuse scandals — instead of trying to minimize the extent of its horrific reach — we can gain the skills necessary to become a truly transformative and holy body through which to bring Christ to this world.
