¹ The consultation took place in March 2017 and was organized by the Saint Mary's College Division for Mission under the leadership of then vice president for Mission Judith R. Fean (now retired) and then Center for Spirituality director Arlene Montevecchio. For more information on the consultation, contact Judith R. Fean at [email protected]. The coauthors express our gratitude to the Division for Mission at Saint Mary's for the opportunity to participate in the consultation, to all the participants, and to Horizons’ anonymous peer review readers for their constructive comments on this article.

² Cooper-White, Pamela, The Cry of Tamar: Violence against Women and the Church's Response, 2nd ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2012), 29–33Google Scholar.

³ Centers for Disease Control, “Fast Facts: Preventing Sexual Violence,” Violence Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/fastfact.html. We use “sexual violence” as a broad term encompassing sexual assault, rape, and sexual abuse. The precise legal definition of these crimes varies from state to state. See https://www.rainn.org/about-rainn.

⁴ K. C. Basile, S. G. Smith, M. Kresnow, et al., “The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 Report on Sexual Violence” (Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Cited in Centers for Disease Control, “Preventing Sexual Violence” factsheet, https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/SV-Factsheet.pdf.

⁵ J. Barth, L. Bermetz, E. Heim, et al., “The Current Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse Worldwide: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” International Journal of Public Health 58 (2013): 469–83, doi:10.1007/s00038-012-0426-1.

⁶ Basile et al., “The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.”

⁷ Patricia Schene, “Child Abuse and Neglect Policy: History, Models, and Future Directions,” in The APSAC Handbook of Child Maltreatment, ed. J. Briere et al. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996), 386.

⁸ Gina Christian, “Catholic Psychologist Calls Domestic Violence ‘Pandemic within a Pandemic,” Catholic News Service, May 26, 2020, https://www.catholicnews.com/catholic-psychologist-calls-domestic-violence-pandemic-within-a-pandemic/.

⁹ Peterson, Cora, DeGue, Sarah, Florence, Curtis, et al. , “Lifetime Economic Burden of Rape in the United States,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 52 (2017): 691–701CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁰ Examples include several 2002 testimonies to the USCCB, https://www.usccb.org/offices/child-and-youth-protection/presentations; Gary Bergeron, Don't Call Me a Victim: Faith, Hope & Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (Lowell, MA: Arc Angel Publishing, 2005); Norbert Krapf, Catholic Boy Blues: A Poet's Journal of Healing (Nashville, TN: Greystone Publishing, 2014); and Juan Carlos Cruz's testimony in the 2019 Forum “The Church Crisis: Where Are We Now?” at the University of Notre Dame, https://forum2019.nd.edu/events/2019/09/25/the-church-crisis-where-are-we-now/.

¹¹ “Elizabeth's Story: ‘A Better Chapter of Our Lives Begins,’” Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, https://catholiccharities.org/elizabeths-story-a-better-chapter-of-our-lives-begins/.

¹² Me Too, https://metoomvmt.org/.

¹³ Rebecca Campbell and Stephanie Townsend, “Defining the Scope of Sexual Violence against Women,” in Sourcebook on Violence Against Women, 2nd ed., ed. Claire M. Renzetti, Jeffrey L. Edleson, and Raquel Kennedy Bergen (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2011), 95–108.

¹⁴ Campbell and Townsend, “Defining the Scope of Sexual Violence against Women,” 100–01.

¹⁵ Campbell and Townsend, “Defining the Scope of Sexual Violence against Women,” 101.

¹⁶ Zaheen, Zakia, Aqeel, Fahmida, Asad, Mohammad Ghazi, et al. , “Fetomaternal Outcome After Physical Domestic Violence During Pregnancy,” The Professional Medical Journal 27, no. 1 (January 2020): 104–14, doi: 10.29309/tpmj/2019.27.01.3515CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁷ Cited by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Understanding Pregnancy Resulting from Rape in the United States,” Violence Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/understanding-RRP-inUS.html#:~:text=Rape%20and%20Rape%2DRelated%20Pregnancy%3A%20By%20the%20Numbers&text=About%2018%20million%20women%20have,or%20a%20stranger%20(6.9%25).

¹⁸ Campbell and Townsend, “Defining the Scope of Sexual Violence against Women,” 101.

¹⁹ Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror (New York: Basic Books, 2015), 101.

²⁰ Jennifer Erin Beste, God and the Victim: Traumatic Intrusions on Grace and Freedom (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 42.

²¹ Carla van Raay, God's Callgirl: A Memoir (Sydney, Australia: HarperCollins Publishers, 2004), 34. Cited in Beth R. Crisp, “Spirituality and Sexual Abuse: Issues and Dilemmas for Survivors,” Theology & Sexuality 13 (2007): 304.

²² Cited in Gerard J. McGlone and Mary Shrader, Creating Safe and Sacred Places: Identifying, Preventing, and Healing Sexual Abuse (Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press, 2003), 44.

²³ Joan Miller (pseud.), “Remain Here with Me: Recovering from the Trauma of Rape,” America 211 (October 13, 2014): 27−29.

²⁴ Christine A. Courtois, Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy (New York: Norton, 1988), 202.

²⁵ Diana E. H. Russell, The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women (Basic Books: New York, 1986), 119.

²⁶ Susan Shooter, How Survivors of Abuse Relate to God: The Authentic Spirituality of the Annihilated Soul (Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2012).

²⁷ Catholic Response to Sexual and Domestic Violence and Abuse: A Report Compiled by the Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth (Washington DC: USCCB, 2017), https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/domestic-violence/upload/Catholic-Response-to-Sexual-and-Domestic-Violence-Report-Final.pdf.

²⁸ “Elizabeth's Story: ‘A Better Chapter of Our Lives Begins.’”

²⁹ Catholic Charities, “Family Safety & Stabilization Assistance,” Family Safety & Stabilization, https://ccwny.org/family-safety-stabilization/.

³⁰ “The Way: A Healing Retreat for Female Survivors of Sexual Abuse,” The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, https://archatl.com/ministries-services/victim-assistance/healing-opportunities/the-way-for-women/.

³¹ Roxanne King, “RISE: Unique Apostolate Brings Christ-centered Healing to Survivors of Sexual Assault,” National Catholic Register, November 12, 2019, https://denvercatholic.org/rise-unique-apostolate-brings-christ-centered-healing-to-survivors-of-sexual-assault/.

³² “Human Dignity and Solidarity: Domestic Violence Outreach,” Parish Vitality and Mission, Archdiocese of Chicago, https://pvm.archchicago.org/human-dignity-solidarity/domestic-violence-outreach.

³³ “Hope, Help, and Healing: A Catholic Response to Domestic Abuse and Violence,” Catholics for Family Peace, http://www.catholicsforfamilypeace.org/. For an interview with cofounder Sharon O'Brien, see https://www.foryourmarriage.org/interview-3-catholics-working-to-end-domestic-violence/.

³⁴ Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003), 7.

³⁵ Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) §7, in Norman P. Tanner, ed., Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 vols. (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1990), 2:852–54, with reference to 1 Cor 12:26. Also available at https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html.

³⁶ Shooter, How Survivors of Abuse Relate to God.

³⁷ In 2021, the USCCB published the eighteenth annual independent audit of their implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which was adopted in 2002 and updated in 2018. One hundred percent of dioceses and all but two eparchies participated in the audit. During the audit period (2020), there were 4,228 allegations of clerical abuse of minors, 95.5 percent of which were historical in nature, and .5 percent of which (i.e., 22 cases) were current to 2020. All current cases were referred to law enforcement and, at the time of publication of the report, about one-quarter of these allegations had been substantiated, resulting in the removal of the offender from ministry. Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection, observes that the protective measures outlined in the Charter “are working on a national level” and that vigilance and commitment of both clergy and laity remain necessary. According to Suzanne Healy, Chair of the National Review Board (NRB) for the Protection of Children and Young People, the audit “provides a wealth of information that can guide our efforts moving forward.” She notes that the NRB's Research and Trends Committee is in contact with leaders in the field of child abuse education and research; affirms the positive contribution of the bishops in creating the Catholic Bishop Abuse Reporting system; and encourages the creation of an audit process for this system as well as the establishment of a system of parish audits. 2020 Annual Report on the Implementation of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” (Washington, DC: USCCB, 2021), vi, viii, and vi–vii. There is a large body of literature on the clerical abuse scandal and the ecclesial response. We do not include a bibliography because our intent is to draw attention to forms of sexual violence other than clerical abuse.

³⁸ Guido, Joseph J., “The Importance of Perspective,” America 186 (April 1, 2002): 23Google Scholar.

³⁹ We conducted an anonymous survey of 129 Catholic students in introductory courses at the University of Dayton. Fifty percent said their formation in a Catholic school or parish included education in warning signs of abusive relationships; 45.5 percent said it did not. Just over half of respondents (50.4 percent) said their Catholic formation included education in how to seek help if they found themselves in an abusive relationship, whereas 46.5 percent said it did not. We are grateful to University of Dayton graduate assistant Elise Abshire for administering this survey, tabulating these and other results, and offering important constructive reflection on this article.

⁴⁰ Committee for Children, “Talking about Touching: A Personal Safety Curriculum: Teacher's Guide,” 3rd ed. (1985, 2001), https://www.cfchildren.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/previous-programs/talking-about-touching/tatPreKTeachers.pdf.

⁴¹ See, for example, Diaz, Marisol J., Wolfersteig, Wendy, Moreland, Diane, et al. , “Teaching Youth to Resist Abuse: Evaluation of a Strengths-Based Child Maltreatment Curriculum for High School Students,” Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma 14 (2021): 141–49, doi:10.1007/s40653-020-00304CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

⁴² See Krysik, Judy, LeCroy, Craig Winston, and Ashford, Jose B., “Participants’ Perceptions of Healthy Families: A Home Visitation Program to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect,” Children and Youth Services Review 30 (2008): 45–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁴³ Decades ago, a twelve-year-old girl told me (Elizabeth Groppe) that she was having multiple health problems. I thought this was odd in someone so young. I asked her if she was seeing a physician and she said yes. Had I known what I know now about sexual violence and had I received intervention protocol training, I would have asked additional questions. Years later, I learned she was being sexually abused by her stepfather.

⁴⁴ “Human Dignity and Solidarity.”

⁴⁵ A. Denise Starkey, “The Roman Catholic Church and Violence Against Women,” in Religion and Men's Violence Against Women, ed. A. J. Johnson (New York: Springer, 2015), 177–93, at 189.

⁴⁶ For further reflection on the importance of memory and mourning, see Julia Feder, “Edward Schillebeeckx and Sexual Trauma: Salvation as Healing,” in Salvation in the World: The Crossroads of Public Theology, eds. Stephan van Erp, Christopher Cimorelli, and Christiane Alpers (New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017), 215–27.

⁴⁷ James W. Pennebaker and Lauri D. Stone, “Translating Traumatic Experiences into Language: Implications for Child Abuse and Long-Term Health,” in From Child Sexual Abuse to Adult Sexual Risk: Trauma, Revictimization, and Intervention, ed. L. J. Koenig, L S. Doll, A. O'Leary, et. al. (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004), 201–216, at 206–07.

⁴⁸ Flora A. Keshgegian, Redeeming Memories: A Theology of Healing and Transformation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000).

⁴⁹ Karen's account is included in James N. Poling, The Abuse of Power: A Theological Problem (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1991), 39–40.

⁵⁰ Cited in Poling, The Abuse of Power, 40.

⁵¹ Serene Jones, Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 55–63.

⁵² Jones, Trauma and Grace, 96, 101–25. Although our focus is on sexual violence in society at large, it is important to note that for survivors of clerical sexual abuse, participation in the sacraments of the Catholic Church can be very difficult. See, for example, the testimony of Paula Gonzales Rohrbacher, who was abused by a seminarian, in regard to the sacrament of reconciliation: https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/Impact-Statement-of-Paula-Gonzales-Rohrbacher.pdf.

⁵³ Cited in Poling, The Abuse of Power, 39.

⁵⁴ Walsh, Kate, Fortier, Michelle A., and DiLillo, David, “Adult Coping with Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Theoretical and Empirical Review,” Aggression and Violent Behavior 15 (2010): 8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

⁵⁵ Peres, Julio F. P., Moreira-Almeida, Alexander, Nasello, Antonia Gladys, et al. , “Spirituality and Resilience in Trauma Victims,” Journal of Religion and Health 46 (2007): 347–348, doi:10.1007/s10943-006-9103-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵⁶ Beste, God and the Victim, 121–22.

⁵⁷ Crisp, “Spirituality and Sexual Abuse,” 308.

⁵⁸ Cited in Poling, The Abuse of Power, 37.

⁵⁹ Kidd, Erin, “The Violation of God in the Body of the World: A Rahnerian Response to Trauma,” Modern Theology 35 (2019): 676, doi:10.1111/moth.12484CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Kidd refers to Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (New York: Penguin, 2014).

⁶⁰ Kidd, “The Violation of God in the Body of the World,” 676.

⁶¹ Herman, Trauma and Recovery, 133.

⁶² Miller, “Remain Here with Me,” 29.

⁶³ Miller, “Remain Here with Me,” 27–29.

⁶⁴ Beste, God and the Victim, 112.

⁶⁵ Beste, God and the Victim, 112.

⁶⁶ For some examples of homilies from the Archdiocese of Chicago, see “Human Dignity and Solidarity,” https://pvm.archchicago.org/human-dignity-solidarity/domestic-violence-outreach/news-and-video-library for sample preaching, see Kochurani Abraham, preaching on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, August 15, 2018, https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/08152018.

⁶⁷ Constance Phelps, “I Am a Domestic Abuse Survivor. Parish Priests Must Do More to Support People Like Me,” National Catholic Reporter, October 1, 2021, https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/i-am-domestic-abuse-survivor-parish-priests-must-do-more-support-people-me.

⁶⁸ “We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on the mind, brain, and body.” Van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score, 21.

⁶⁹ Nancy Venable Raine, After Silence: Rape and My Journey Back (New York: Crown Publishers, 1998), 80.

⁷⁰ Shelly Rambo, Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 99.

⁷¹ Rambo, Spirit and Trauma, 99.

⁷² Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ: The Experience of Jesus as Lord, trans. John Bowden (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1980), 745.

⁷³ Suzanne M. Sgroi, ed., Sexual Abuse Treatment for Children, Adult Survivors, Offenders, and Persons with Mental Retardation: Vulnerable Populations, vol. 2 (New York: Lexington Books, 1989). Cited in Shooter, How Survivors of Abuse Relate to God, 12.

⁷⁴ Sgroi, Sexual Abuse Treatment for Children, Adult Survivors, Offenders, and Persons with Mental Retardation, 129, cited in Shooter, How Survivors of Abuse Relate to God, 14.

⁷⁵ Beste, God and the Victim, 48. See also Harter, Susan, “The Effects of Child Abuse on the Self-System,” Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 2 (1998): 149–50, doi:10.1300/J146v02n01_09CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁷⁶ Eliana Suarez and Tahany Gadallla explain: “An important factor that discourages rape victims from reporting is the nonsupportive reactions that they often encounter after disclosing the assault. Research findings indicate that rape victims may experience postrape trauma as a result of these nonsupportive reactions. Such reactions may emerge from the social network of the victims, from legal services, police, clergy, health care providers, and so on. Rape myths—the false cultural beliefs that mainly serve the purpose of shifting the blame from perpetrators to victims—help to explain the sociocultural context of these negative reactions.” Suarez, Eliana and Gadalla, Tahany, “Stop Blaming the Victim: A Meta-Analysis on Rape Myths,” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 25 (2010): 2010–35CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed, at 2011, doi:10.1177/0886260509354503.

⁷⁷ Warner, Kate, Baro, Agnes, and Eigenberg, Helen, “Stories of Resistance: Exploring Women's Responses to Male Violence,” Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 16 (2004): 37Google Scholar.

⁷⁸ Wade, Allan, “Small Acts of Living: Everyday Resistance to Violence and Other Forms of Oppression,” Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal 19 (1997): 23CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁷⁹ Gale Goldberg Wood and Susan E. Roche, “Representing Selves, Reconstructing Lives: Feminist Group Work with Women Survivors of Male Violence,” Social Work with Groups 23 (2001): 14.

⁸⁰ Beste, God and the Victim, 122.

⁸¹ Beste, God and the Victim, 122–23.

⁸² Bruce T. Morrill, “Christ the Healer: An Investigation of Contemporary Liturgical, Pastoral, and Biblical Approaches,” in Practicing Catholic: Ritual, Body, and Contestation in Catholic Faith, ed. Bruce T. Morrill, Joanna E. Ziegler, and Susan Rodgers (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 115–29, at 126.

⁸³ Morrill, “Christ the Healer,” 126.

⁸⁴ 1971 Synod of Bishops, “Justice in the World,” in David J. O'Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, eds., Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998), 288–300, at 289.

⁸⁵ Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation records as cited by RAINN, https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system. Other sources estimate that rates of reporting range from 8 to 33 percent. See Judith Lewis Herman, “Justice from the Victim's Perspective,” Violence Against Women 11 (2005): 573, doi:10.1177/1077801205274450. Not all cases that are reported are prosecuted, and not all prosecutions are successful. Kimberly A. Lonsway and Joanne Archambault estimate that only in .2 to 5.2 percent of cases does a sexual assault end with a conviction of the perpetrator. See Kimberley A. Lonsway and Joanne Archambault, “The ‘Justice Gap’ for Sexual Assault Cases: Future Directions for Research and Reform,” Violence Against Women 18 (2012): 157, doi:10.1177/1077801212440017.

⁸⁶ The term appeared in Noreen Connell and Cassandra Wilson, eds., Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women (New York: New American Library, 1974) and was the title of the 1975 documentary film Rape Culture, which focused on popular media. Emilie Buchwald and colleagues define “rape culture” as “a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women.… A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women and presents it as the norm. In a rape culture, both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, as inevitable as death or taxes.” Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher, and Martha Roth, “Preamble” to Transforming a Rape Culture, rev. ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 2005), xi. The term implies that sexual violence is not inherent to human behavior but a manifestation of cultural formation.

⁸⁷ USCCB, When I Call for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence against Women, 10th anniversary edition, 2002, https://www.usccb.org/topics/marriage-and-family-life-ministries/when-i-call-help-pastoral-response-domestic-violence.

⁸⁸ Nancy Nason-Clark and Nancy A. Murphy, Celebrating the Graduates: An Exploration into the Nature and Extent of Change in the Lives of Men Who Have Graduated from a Batterers Program (paper presented to Northwest Family Life Board of Directors, Seattle, WA, 2003). Cited in Nancy A. Murphy, God's Reconciling Love: A Pastor's Handbook on Domestic Violence (Seattle, WA: FaithTrust Institute, 2003), 22. Studies on the effectiveness of programs for perpetrators include Kate Seymour, Kristin Natalier, and Sarah Wendt, “Changed Men? Men Talking about Violence and Change in Domestic and Family Violence Perpetrator Intervention Programs,” Men and Masculinities 24, no. 5 (2021): 884–901, doi:10.1177/1097184X211038998; Ntandoyenkosi Maphosa and Shahana Rasool, “The Effectiveness of Perpetrator Programmes in Promoting Positive Gender Relations and Preventing Domestic Violence: A Case Study of NICRO'S PIPV Programme,” Gender & Behaviour 15, no, 2 (2017): 9125–32; Derrik R. Tollefson, Kevin Webb, Dirk Shumway, et al., “A Mind-Body Approach to Domestic Violence Perpetrator Treatment: Program Overview and Preliminary Outcomes,” Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 18, no. 1 (2009): 17–45, doi:10.1080/10926770802610657.

⁸⁹ Taylor, Pegi, “Beyond Myths and Denial: What Church Communities Need to Know about Sexual Abusers,” America 186 (April 1, 2002): 10Google Scholar.

⁹⁰ Herman, Trauma and Recovery, 1.

⁹¹ See Rambo, Spirit and Trauma, 6.

⁹² Makant, Mindy, “Transforming Trauma: The Power of Touch and the Practice of Anointing,” Word & World 34 (2014): 161Google Scholar.

⁹³ In the United States, for example, ongoing research addressing the clerical abuse crisis includes work supported by the University of Notre Dame's Research and Scholarship Task Force's Church Sexual Abuse Crisis Research Grant Program (https://research.nd.edu/our-services/funding-opportunities/faculty/internal-grants-programs/church-sexual-abuse-crisis-research-grant-program) and Fordham University's “Taking Responsibility: Jesuit Educational Institutions Confront the Causes and Legacy of Clergy Sexual Abuse” (https://takingresponsibility.ace.fordham.edu). In France, the Institut Catholique of Paris, the Collège des Bernardins, and the Centre Sèvre have joined forces with the French Bishops’ Conference and the Conference of Men and Women Religious of France to hold a series of public conferences in response to the October 2021 report by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church. See https://international.la-croix.com/news/religion/theologians-begin-in-depth-treatment-of-sexual-abuse/15839.

⁹⁴ For a summary of what is already being done, including identification of some best practices and resources, see Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, Catholic Response to Sexual and Domestic Violence and Abuse.

⁹⁵ Pope Francis, “Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the People of God,” August 20, 2018, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20180820_lettera-popolo-didio.html. See also Ross, Susan A., “Feminist Theology and the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis,” Theological Studies 80 (2019): 632–52, doi:10.1177/0040563919857186CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Michael L. Papesh, Clerical Culture: Contradiction and Transformation (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004), 12–15.