Abstract
Childhood sex abuse by Catholic priests is an epidemic that has been rising to the surface in the public eye over the past decade, with hundreds of cases going public in the United States and even more in places like England and Ireland. Buried beneath conversations surrounding the cover-ups, scandals and court cases, however, are those who lived through this abuse. So many casual and scholarly conversations focus on the huge scale of the problem, or the amount of bishops who knew there were abusive priests in their parishes, or the silencing tactics used by church officials to ensure that victim-survivors or their families would not report—in conversations like these, it seems that the victims and their stories are forgotten. This paper will focus on the victim-survivors first, including their stories and their voices whenever possible, addressing the ways in which abuse affected their lives.
Subject
Religions; Religions -- Philosophy; Religions -- History
Journal
Relics, Remnants, and Religion: an Undergraduate Journal in Religious Studies
Publication Date
5-5-2017
Language
English
Publication Place
Tacoma, Washington
Publisher
The University of Puget Sound
Type
article
Recommended Citation
Christen, Emma
(2017)
"‘Who Wears the Face of God?’: Childhood Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests as Religious Violence,"
Relics, Remnants, and Religion: An Undergraduate Journal in Religious Studies: Vol. 2:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/relics/vol2/iss2/3