Broken Faith

This book is a theological reflection on the broken state of faith and of the Catholic Church in Ireland, following more than two decades of revelations of institutional and child sexual abuse and the Church's now acknowledged failure to respond to the abuse in an appropriate way. This has resulted in broken lives, broken faith and a broken church.

This book is a theological reflection on the broken state of faith within the Catholic Church in Ireland following more than two decades of revelations about institutional and child sexual abuse and the Church's now acknowledged failure to respond to the abuse in an appropriate way. The result has been broken lives, broken faith and a broken church.
While the book has a theological purpose, it employs a seejudgeact methodology in attempting to come to terms with a very complex problem. Following a broad introduction, the first section sets out to listen to the voices of the victims. The second section consists of an interdisciplinary academic analysis, with significant input from psychology and also from history and social studies. The final section of the book engages in theology, seeking to place us in a Kairos moment that might allow us to look beyond our broken faith. This, however, requires an analysis of the theological misunderstandings that led to the aberration of clericalism, the resulting abuse of power and the wider malaise within the Church. St Paul is suggested as a «mentor», as we seek to restore trust and rebuild the Church in a radically new way. The book ultimately seeks a renewal of our broken faith, searching for trajectories towards healing and wholeness, truth and reconciliation.

Auteur

Patrick Claffey is a member of the Society of the Divine Word and worked for many years as a missionary in West Africa. His academic interest is in the study of religions, in which he lectures at University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin and All Hallows College, Dublin. Joe Egan lectures at the Milltown Institute in Dublin, where his research focuses on the interaction between faith and culture in contemporary society. He is the author of The Dawkins Delusion (2009) and From Misery to Hope: Encountering God in the Abyss of Suffering (2010), and co-editor, with Patrick Claffey, of Movement or Moment? Assessing Liberation Theology Forty Years after Medellín (2009). Marie Keenan is a registered psychotherapist and social scientist who is employed at the School of Applied Social Science, University College Dublin. She is the author of Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church: Gender, Power and Organizational Culture (2012). She is currently researching in the area of restorative justice, sexual trauma and abuse.

Contenu
Contents: Patrick Claffey: Broken Faith and the Search for Hope Patrick McCafferty: «A Cry from the Depths»: Entering into the Mystery of Christ Forsaken Bernadette Fahy: «Suffer Little Children»: The Indelible Memory of Institutional Abuse Dáire Keogh: Between Hagiography and Horror: The Challenge for the Historian John L. Allen Jr: Between Reform and Realism: How the Sexual Abuse Crisis Is (and Isn't) Changing the Church Marie Keenan: Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church: A Multi-Layered Perspective Michael Cronin: Fear and Loathing in the Republic: Why Hope Matters Lynn M. Levo: Revising Our Understanding of Being Sexual Geraldine Smyth OP: What Lies Beneath: From Purity and Power to Crisis and Kairos Thomas R. Whelan: Culture of Clericalism: Towards a Theological Deconstruction Kieran O'Mahony: St Paul, Mentor for a Recovering Church? Gender, Ethics and Ministry in Radical Perspective Gerard Mannion: An Acute Symptom of a Much Deeper Malaise: The Abuse Crisis in its Wider Ecclesiological Context Gerry O'Hanlon: Re-Building Trust: The Role of the Catholic Church in Ireland Joe Egan: Renewing a Faith that Is Broken: Trajectories towards Healing and Wholeness, Truth and Reconciliation.