JournalTOCs

The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II
Number of Followers: 0

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 2083-8018 - ISSN (Online) 2391-6559
Published by Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow

[9 journals]

The Catholic Church’s Responsibility in Creating
a Safeguarding Culture
- Authors: Hans Zollner
  Pages: 5 - 21
  Abstract: The safeguarding of minors and of vulnerable adult persons is an intrinsic aspect of the mission that the Lord has entrusted the Church and it is the responsibility of all the faithful to fulfil it, whatever capacity they hold in the Church. Unfortunately, it is not possible to eradicate child abuse entirely as it is a human reality, but much can be done by creating a culture of safe space and safe relationships within the Church and beyond. The Catholic Church, as the oldest and biggest institution in the world and with its religious and moral values, has a special responsibility in preventing any kind of abuse, in protecting the most vulnerable, and furthermore, in Safeguarding; in creating safe spaces and safe relationships. Listening to victims and survivors of abuse who have been harmed in the Church or outside, is key for being and acting in a responsible, accountable, and transparent way. This is the cornerstone for credibility and for promoting the faith.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4233
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Child Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Irish Church 1996–2021: Guidelines and
Canonical Response
- Authors: Michael Mullaney
  Pages: 23 - 51
  Abstract: When the sexual abuse crisis exploded in the Irish Church, the canonical expertise, experience and the administrative processes for dealing with and managing complaints and suspicions of child sexual abuse by clergy were simply not fit for purpose. Addressing the crisis in the Irish Church required not only a canonical but a multidimensional response involving pastoral supports to victims and other parties, preventative measures, education, guidelines, policies, procedures, training and monitoring. Four sets of guidelines (1996, 2005, 2008, 2016) document the Irish Church’s increasingly robust efforts to address this crisis supplemented by the clearer universal norms issued by the Holy See. The article highlights some of the significant developments in the guidelines and canonical legislation: the paramountcy principle; the issue of recognitio and the binding authority of these guidelines. The nature and value of guidelines is that it they can never be completely definitive, and are continually evolving to reflect changes in the statutory context, best practice, in canon law or otherwise as these arise.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4234
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
The Response of the Catholic Church in the United States to Offences
of Sexual Abuse of Minors Committed by Clerics Based on the Example
of the Diocese of Fairbanks
- Authors: Paweł Lewandowski
  Pages: 53 - 74
  Abstract: Offences of sexual abuse committed by clerics, which are a grave sin, cause physical, mental and spiritual harm to their victims and greatly harm the community of the faithful. In order to prevent such situations from happening anymore, it is necessary to take great responsibility for minors, for people who habitually have an imperfect use of reason and for people to whom the law recognizes equal protection. This concern may be considered an indispensable part of the mission entrusted to the Church, which, as a community of the faithful, strives for the salvation of every human being and for the common good of the community in which it carries out its mission. The answer to how to accomplish this task and how to bring church communities out of the deep crisis caused by sexual abuse of clergy comes from the Catholic Church in the United States, including the Diocese of Fairbanks.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4235
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Reflections on the Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge
and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
Credits and Doubts
- Authors: Paweł Bortkiewicz
  Pages: 75 - 94
  Abstract: “Woe! It is so shameful to even speak about it. The cancer of sodomite unchastity spreads throughout the clergy,” cries Peter Damiani at the beginning of his letter-treatise written circa 1051 A.D. The author of “Liber Gomorrhianus” points out that he knows the problem well as it concerns the milieus he is familiar with, or with which he corresponds. Without a doubt, Damiani observed such sinful behavior in his own monastery and hermitage. Therefore, he could define and characterize such pathologies among the clergy. He also rebuked Church authorities for considering the removal of a sinner from the priesthood only in the case of anal intercourse, while tolerating other sodomite behavior. Damiani enumerates types of conduct that breach the natural law as only man’s attraction to a woman is natural. He also criticizes certain provisions of the canon law as, according to him, they meant excusing the sins of sodomy.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4236
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
The Catholic Church in the Czech Republic and Sexual Abuse
of Minors
- Authors: Martina Vintrová
  Pages: 95 - 109
  Abstract: The article describes the present the situation in the Church in the Czech Republic in relation to the topic of sexual abuse of minors in terms of extension of cases, education in the topic, church documents and measures adopted and prayer initiatives. It also discusses the specific factors that make it difficult to accept the reality of the existence of sexual abuse of minors by clerics also in the Catholic Church in the territory of the Czech Bishops Conference.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4237
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
How to Study Child Sexual Abuse Within the Institutional Framework'
The Experience of the Catholic Church in Poland
- Authors: Wojciech Sadlon, Sławomir Nowotny
  Pages: 111 - 135
  Abstract: Sexual abuse as a manifestation of personality disorders and a crime is shaped and committed in a specific social environment. The Institute for Catholic Church Statistics was the first in Poland to undertake systematic research on the problem of child sexual abuse. The scope of this research concerns the acts committed within Catholic organizations by priests and religious. In this chapter, we present Polish research on abuse and characterize the organizational framework of the Catholic Church in Poland. We highlight the public importance of research on child sexual abuse by priests. The focus of the chapter, however, is devoted to the methodological issues of quantitative sociological research on the sexual abuse of minors within Catholic organizations. We discuss the basic assumptions, methods and scope of collected data that concerns Poland. In an accessible and understandable way for a reader who has no knowledge of social sciences, we explain how the facts of child abuse by priests and religious are studied in Poland.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4238
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Counteracting Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: the System
in Poland
- Authors: Marcin Przeciszewski
  Pages: 137 - 159
  Abstract: The Catholic Church in Poland, as happened before in other countries, faces the disclosure of scandals connected with the sexual abuse of minors by certain clergymen. This is a grave problem in the pastoral field and with the public image. According to the report of March 2019 by Instytut Statystyki Kościoła Katolickiego [Institute of the Statistics of the Catholic Church] 382 cases of sexual abuse were reported in 1990–2018, whereas the percentage of clergymen accused of abusing minors (up to 18 years of age) was 0,4%. The system of protecting children and youth against sexual abuse within the Church in Poland has been established since 2009. It was then that the Polish Bishops Conference adopted the first Wytyczne określające sposób postępowania w przypadkach wykorzystywania seksualnego małoletnich przez niektórych duchownych [Guidelines Specifying the Procedure in Cases of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergymen]. The system focuses on taking care of victims, developing clear norms and structures to bring to justice those clergymen who have committed the crimes and developing prevention programs for the protection of minors (which have already been implemented in all dioceses and in the majority of male religious congregations). It also runs Fundacja Świętego Józefa [St. Joseph Foundation] which provides various forms of help, mainly therapeutic, to the victims. In Kraków, Centrum Ochrony Dziecka [Center for the Protection of Children] established in 2013 runs and coordinates training activities. In dioceses and religious congregations there are delegates dedicated to the protection of children and youth, as well as ministers for those that have been sexually abused by clergymen. The chief Delegate for the Protection of Children and Youth, the Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Primate of Poland, has also been appointed.
  The results of preliminary investigations are passed along to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under whose auspices a process of further investigation is run. The latest element of the system is the application of the norms introduced by Pope Francis under the motu proprio “Vos estis lux mundi”. They involve disciplining higher Church superiors who have concealed or covered up crimes of sexual abuse of minors.
  The Roman Catholic Church is the only public institution in Poland which has developed such meticulous internal standards as regards the punishment of the perpetrators, prevention programs and assistance to the victims. The purpose of the article is, therefore, to show the actions which the Church has taken in order to counteract the abuse of minors within the Church, both from the formal point of view as well as from the practical perspective: to substitute the mentality of “one must protect one’s men” with the one permeated with the spirit of the Gospel.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4239
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Crisis Communication in the Context of Child and Youth Protection –
Diagnosis, Problems, Challenges. The Case of the Catholic Church
in Poland
- Authors: Monika Przybysz, Józef Kloch
  Pages: 161 - 184
  Abstract: Crisis management principles that have been in place and proven for decades by commercial companies and corporations, tested at great expense, apply equally to all non-commercial entities, governmental, religious, political, as well as to individuals. There is no deviation from them, as crises in today’s world are determined by the media, not the entity or institution itself. Every crisis can become an opportunity for change, strengthening, improvement, purification and even victory. The condition is a professional approach to the problem. A crisis can also be the beginning of the end, a failure. The biggest enemy of success in this situation is lack of knowledge how to act properly, mistakes in communication and management of resources. However, avoiding responsibility, hiding facts, manipulating information, being too quick and inconsiderate, resorting to falsehood, hypocrisy, and calculated behaviour will not facilitate success either. The article will analyse the institutional actions of the Catholic Church in Poland for the protection of children and adolescents in the context of the classical principles of crisis management applied in a crisis.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4240
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Protection of Minors in the Legislation of the Diocese
of Tarnów
- Authors: Robert Kantor
  Pages: 185 - 200
  Abstract: The sexual abuse of a child is a crime which demands a response on various levels. On the one hand, it requires psychological support for the victims, while on the other, it requires concrete legal and penal measures against the perpetrators, as well as broad social education and preventive measures in order to prevent similar tragedies from recurring in the future. The document entitled “Protection of Minors in the Pastoral Work of the Diocese of Tarnów – Norms and Rules” refers to the actions of the universal Church. The document on the protection of minors is a guideline for the Diocese of Tarnów to be used in all parishes, communities and works of the diocese, both by clergymen, consecrated persons and laity who undertake ministry among children and young people.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4241
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Prevention of sexual abuse against children and young people on the
example of the Child Protection Centre in Kraków
- Authors: Krzysztof Biel
  Pages: 201 - 212
  Abstract: The aim of this article is to present the activities of the Child Protection Centre (COD) in the field of protection of children and adolescents from sexual abuse. COD is an interdepartmental unit operating at the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow. The primary tasks of COD include training and educational activities in the psychological, pedagogical and spiritual fields on the subject of CSA, and the design and development of prevention programmes and models of good practice for various pastoral, formative and educational environments. The Child Protection Centre focuses on preparing and building structures for the effective implementation of the policies for the protection of children and young people, and on working to change the awareness not only of the clergy but also of people associated with the Church. The activities undertaken by the Child Protection Centre focus mainly on universal prevention, the basic aim of which is to stop potential perpetrators from harming children and to protect children – potential victims – from abuse.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4242
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
“WHO ARE YOU, WHO AM I'” Does a psychologist need philosophy
to better understand the sexual abuse of minors'
- Authors: Ewa Kusz
  Pages: 213 - 236
  Abstract: This article attempts to look at the issue of sexual abuse from an anthropological point of view because the attempts by various scholarly disciplines to describe and analyze the phenomenon of sexual abuse, including attempts to identify causes and effects, do not provide clear answers to the question of the nature of what happen in sexual abuse. The first steps of the analysis show the need for a philosophical reflection, and point to the directions of such a reflection which can help to understand that the harm inflicted on a young victim by sexual abuse consists in a damage at the “core of the person,” of his own subjectivity, of his own “self.” It is an “anthropological harm or damage” resulting from “becoming an object” for the abuser. It interrupts the process of becoming an autonomous subject who understand himself and is able to enter in a dialogical relationship with others.
  The gist of the damage of child sexual abuse remains hidden behind the tangible long-term effects. These effects are often insurmountable during the victim’s lifetime. It indicates that we are dealing with damage to “who I am” – damage to the being of a sexually abused person. So, the person harmed in this way knows neither who I am – the person who experienced this harm, nor who you are – the perpetrator who harmed him and, in a sense, who the other is in general. Understanding the “anthropological harm” inflicted by sexual abuse clearly shows the challenge of the process of transitioning from the experience of “becoming an object” to discovering and rebuilding one’s own subjectivity, one’s own self, without denying the harm. Anthropological reflection concerns also the person of the perpetrator, who turned out to be the “bearer of evil.” Here, we have questions about intentionality, about responsibility for one’s actions, but also about the whole misery of a human being who, by objectifying another person, probably reduces himself to an object. Also, in the case of the perpetrator, understanding the process of becoming a perpetrator may help in the process of his resocialization, that is, the process of restoring his experience of his being as a free person open to meeting the other “you” who must not harmed.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4243
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
“Problematic” Sexual Behaviors: Clinical and Legal Aspects
- Authors: Agnieszka Gloria Kamińska
  Pages: 237 - 257
  Abstract: There is a vast scientific literature on psychiatric pathologies but research on the sexual problems that secondarily accompany them is still lacking. Among the few issues which in this area still manage to overcome an evident generalized resistance of patients to treating the subject and which can be the purpose of further study, beyond the sexual dysfunctions caused by drugs and the greater risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) we have focused in our bibliographical research on problematic sexual behaviors (PSBs). In particular, we have examined PSBs that complicate axis 2 disorders, usually the field of dynamic psychotherapy, while with reference to axis 1 only those present in bipolar disorder, because of the fact that this last, in its “ultra-rapid” cycles, is located by some authors in the symptom spectrum of borderline personality disorders. Lastly, our in-depth analysis, with the exclusion of paraphilic disorders already nosologically well classified in the DSM-5 with code F65, focused on the still poorly defined legal implications of PSBs secondary to personality disorders (PDs), with the purpose of contributing to a greater consideration of the argument in favor of adequate legal protection of patients and health professionals involved in this particular aspect of psycho-behavioral pathologies.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4244
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Violation of the Obligation of Residence According to the
1983 Code of Canon Law
- Authors: Agnieszka Romanko
  Pages: 259 - 268
  Abstract: The obligation of residence is the obligation to reside in a specific territory on a permanent basis in connection with holding an ecclesiastical office. The delict of violation of the obligation of residence is penalized under can. 1396 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and is strictly linked to the entrusted ecclesiastical office such as: cardinals holding specific offices in the Roman Curia, diocesan bishop, coadjutor bishop, auxiliary bishop, diocesan administrator, pastor, parochial administrator and a group of clerics administering the parish in solidum, parochial vicar. Violation of the obligation of residence is subject to a mandatory penalty. The gravest penalty provided for by the ecclesiastical legislator is the privation of ecclesiastical office.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4245
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
The bishop’s responsibility for his presbyterate in the context
of sexual offences committed by priests
- Authors: Piotr Majer
  Pages: 269 - 288
  Abstract: The aim of this paper is to answer the question: How should the bishop act towards his presbyterate so that its members would not commit sexual offences, particularly the most serious ones' The following issues are presented: the relationship between a bishop and his presbyterate, the bishop’s responsibility for the admission of proper candidates to ordination, the assignment of offices and functions in the diocese, the bishop’s obligation to watch over the discipline of the clergy, the bishop’s responsibility for granting the faculty of hearing the confessions.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4246
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Sexual abuse of minors by clergy in cinematography: unrecognized signs
of the times
- Authors: Marek Lis
  Pages: 289 - 311
  Abstract: Contemporary theologians apply the historic notion of loci theologici also to media and film. Films that show the Church in a critical way are also theologically significant. Therefore, one should be aware of the appearance of documentaries and feature films, which raise the issue of sexual abuse against the youngest (paedophilia) also in the Church. The article presents the most important films, produced since the end of the 20th century, whose authors present the crime of paedophilia, its victims, the mechanisms leading to its concealment and silence not only in the Church, but also in the media and society. Films about paedophilia, which are a recognisable voice of victims in the public space, a cry for truth and justice, can also be useful tools for media education.
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4247
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Saint Joseph’s Foundation of the Polish Bishops’
Conference
- Authors: Piotr Studnicki, Grzegorz Strzelczyk
  Pages: 313 - 322
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4248
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Review: Seksualne wykorzystanie nieletnich w Kościele. Problem,
odpowiedź Kościoła, doświadczenie polskie (Sexual abuse of minors
in the Church. The problem, the response of the Church, the Polish
experience), eds. A. Żak i E. Kusz, Wydawnictwo Naukowe
- Authors: Hanna Suchocka
  Pages: 323 - 331
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4249
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
Why should we care. Review of Child sexual abuse. Interdisciplinary
approach (Wykorzystanie seksualne małoletnich. Ujęcie
interdyscyplinarne), P. Studnicki, M. Cholewa (eds.), Scriptum, Krakow
2021 volume 1 and 2
- Authors: Paulina Guzik
  Pages: 333 - 337
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4250
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
A review of Lawendowa mafia. Z papieżami i biskupami przeciwko
homoklikom w Kościele [The Lavender Mafia. With the Popes and Bishops
Against Homosexual Clans in the Church] by Dariusz Oko; Wydawnictwo AA,
Kraków 2020, pp. 288
- Authors: Paweł Bortkiewicz
  Pages: 339 - 346
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4251
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)
“We should continue this dialogue…”. Operational interviews between
Polish Security Service and Rev. Henryk Gulbinowicz from 1969 to 1985.
Case study. With the introduction and discussion written by Rafał
Łatka, Filip Musiał, Warszawa–Kraków 2020
- Authors: Łucja Marek
  Pages: 347 - 355
  PubDate: 2022-04-30
  DOI: 10.15633/pch.4252
  Issue No: Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022)