Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for Conversion
The concept of haunting is one that holds deep potential for our current moment. In this paper, to speak of haunting is to speak about our connection to the transcendent spirits that move among us – that essence that indicates the nature of individuals, events, and lives that continue beyond their i...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Journal of Moral Theology, Inc.
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Moral Theology |
| Online Access: | https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/11605-haunted-salvation-the-generational-consequences-of-ecclesial-sex-abuse-and-the-conditions-for-conversion |
| _version_ | 1797654130533072896 |
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| author | Kim Humphrey Stephanie Edwards |
| author_facet | Kim Humphrey Stephanie Edwards |
| author_sort | Kim Humphrey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The concept of haunting is one that holds deep potential for our current moment. In this paper, to speak of haunting is to speak about our connection to the transcendent spirits that move among us – that essence that indicates the nature of individuals, events, and lives that continue beyond their instantiations of concrete, material being. When read in the light of theology, here informed by psychology and trauma studies, our ghosts can help us identify our mistakes, our pain, our confusion, our questions, and even our inheritances, rather than brushed off as trite or a useless trope. In adopting a hermeneutic of haunting this paper begins the task of tackling the scale and depth of the clerical sex abuse crisis: first as event, and also as ongoing inheritance. The paper unfolds in three parts. First, the starting point is naming that clerical sex abuse haunts the Church today, a specter over all of the faithful that too often goes unrecognized. Second, is exploring how this abuse lingers concretely in our biology—as we are beginning to understand our biological selves as connected across time, with particular regard to traumatic experiences. Third, is revealing how the definitive wound of clerical sex abuse and its ghostly remnants call forth concrete practices of conversion and care for the victimized. With these strands in hand, the paper weaves a loose fabric that speaks to the haunted reality of the current and future Church, specifically how the bodies of its members carry the damage wrought by abuse, and how the Church acts as a shaming and shamed subject in ways that inform our communal identity and our interpretation of the call to conversion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T16:54:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0116c17105724cbb867936193eb159b5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2166-2851 2166-2118 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T16:54:55Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | The Journal of Moral Theology, Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Moral Theology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0116c17105724cbb867936193eb159b52023-10-20T17:34:13ZengThe Journal of Moral Theology, Inc.Journal of Moral Theology2166-28512166-21182020-01-0191Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for ConversionKim HumphreyStephanie EdwardsThe concept of haunting is one that holds deep potential for our current moment. In this paper, to speak of haunting is to speak about our connection to the transcendent spirits that move among us – that essence that indicates the nature of individuals, events, and lives that continue beyond their instantiations of concrete, material being. When read in the light of theology, here informed by psychology and trauma studies, our ghosts can help us identify our mistakes, our pain, our confusion, our questions, and even our inheritances, rather than brushed off as trite or a useless trope. In adopting a hermeneutic of haunting this paper begins the task of tackling the scale and depth of the clerical sex abuse crisis: first as event, and also as ongoing inheritance. The paper unfolds in three parts. First, the starting point is naming that clerical sex abuse haunts the Church today, a specter over all of the faithful that too often goes unrecognized. Second, is exploring how this abuse lingers concretely in our biology—as we are beginning to understand our biological selves as connected across time, with particular regard to traumatic experiences. Third, is revealing how the definitive wound of clerical sex abuse and its ghostly remnants call forth concrete practices of conversion and care for the victimized. With these strands in hand, the paper weaves a loose fabric that speaks to the haunted reality of the current and future Church, specifically how the bodies of its members carry the damage wrought by abuse, and how the Church acts as a shaming and shamed subject in ways that inform our communal identity and our interpretation of the call to conversion.https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/11605-haunted-salvation-the-generational-consequences-of-ecclesial-sex-abuse-and-the-conditions-for-conversion |
| spellingShingle | Kim Humphrey Stephanie Edwards Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for Conversion Journal of Moral Theology |
| title | Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for Conversion |
| title_full | Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for Conversion |
| title_fullStr | Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for Conversion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for Conversion |
| title_short | Haunted Salvation: The Generational Consequences of Ecclesial Sex Abuse and the Conditions for Conversion |
| title_sort | haunted salvation the generational consequences of ecclesial sex abuse and the conditions for conversion |
| url | https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/11605-haunted-salvation-the-generational-consequences-of-ecclesial-sex-abuse-and-the-conditions-for-conversion |
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