In this book the clergy sex abuse controversy is considered in light of three basic faith convictions that have been brought into clearer focus during and since the Second Vatican Council. The first guiding claim builds on Vatican II's teaching, now championed by Pope Francis, that through the anointing of the Spirit of God the baptized are gifted and summoned to live out the prophetic office of all the faithful people of God by actively participating in the life and mission of the church. This is achieved through personal and collective discernment by means of synodality, that is, as all the members of the church we are finding our way together. The prophetic gift and office guide this journey by providing a sense of the faith in all the faithful not only to recognize, receive, and witness to the Word of God, but just as important in our endeavor in this book, to heed, receive, and respond to the voice of the Spirit perceived in the laments of victims grieving their violations, their wounds, and the disfunctions at all levels of the church made manifest in the clergy sex abuse. This requires a deeper assessment of these issues provided by post-Vatican II clarifications of social and structural sin based on a realistic assessment of the sources of the laments and conflicts, the wounds and disfunctions in the church that provide the impetus and conditions for genuine church reform. These claims will provide the theological framework of the book. Praise for Confronting a Church In Controversy The definitive overview of the history and theological implications of the clerical sexual abuse crisis in the United States. Hinze outlines in one volume the tragic sinfulness of church leaders' enabling the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, the prophetic voices of victim-survivors and others whose calls for truth telling exposed these crimes, and the possible ways forward in which the church can journey in lament, repentance, and pursuit of justice.
--Brian P. Flanagan, associate professor of theology, Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia; president, the College Theology Society (CTS) Hinze centers the voices and experience of victim-survivors; he weaves together the insights of historians, psychologists, and journalists. In doing this, he produces a volume that is an unflinching, granular look at how and why the church failed to protect the most vulnerable. This examination invites readers to consider how the sexual abuse cr
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