1 1 Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Meets the Civil Law by Thomas P ...

Amendment. Church attorneys argue that the courts are prohibited from interpreting Church
laws and dogmas. Canon law, however, is not dogma. Those parts that are relevant in court
describe standards of care, administrative procedures, duties of office-holders, and the
ecclesiastical chain of command. 272 The section in canon law that deals with crimes and
penalties lists a number of actions that the Church considers criminal. 273 Some of these acts are
also considered crimes within secular society. The fact that a cleric commits them, and is
therefore liable to his own internal rule system does not mean that he is exempt from prosecution
in the secular courts.
Sexually abusive relationships involving clerics often involve an abuse of the power held
by the perpetrator. In the opinion of some experts, the abuse happens precisely because of the
power differential that exists between victim and cleric. 274 There is no religious dogma,
tradition, or belief held by the Church that would be compromised by a civilian law enforcement
investigation, or the exercise of civilian legal jurisdiction. 275
To understand the basis for the Church’s arguments for special or unique consideration
by the courts, one must first understand the meaning and power of clericalism. Clericalism helps
explain the traumatic bond that comes into being between a clergy abuser and his victim. This
bond serves to strengthen the unhealthy relationship between the two. This bond, and the related
concept of “religious duress,” explains why many victims would not terminate the relationship
272
Canon Law is a collection of rules imposed by Catholic church authority on church members. Catholic Church
teaching holds that some individual cans or laws are based on divine law or the law of God but that most of the laws
of the Code are a reflection of structural or disciplinary needs. See The Code of Canon Law: A Text and
Commentary 5-14 (James Coriden, et al. eds., 1985).
273
See 1917 Code c.1364-1399.
274
See Benyei, supra note 83, at 65.
275
See Zanita Fenton, Faith in Justice: Fiduciaries, Malpractice and Sexual Abuse by the Clergy 8 Mich. J. Gender
& L. 45, 73 (2001).
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