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

absolute control over the means to sanctity and organizational control over the
institutional Church, as well as their exalted social status, creates a situation where abuse
is likely to occur:
Thus, in the sociological sense, instances of abuse,
exploitation and manipulation, whether by pedophilic
Catholic priests, corrupt televangelists or extremist cult
leaders, should not simply be regarded as the occasional
outcomes of a few ‘bad apples.’ . . . Rather, the nature of
trusted hierarchies systematically provides opportunities
and rationales for such deviance and indeed, makes
deviance likely to occur. 369
This hierarchical form of government supports the tendency to victimize others.
Power is not shared; it resides in individuals. The laity has no role in the assignment of
power, nor do they have any means of curbing abuses. On the other hand, a hierarchical
structure also has a greater potential for effectively dealing with abuse among the clergy.
The failure of the system to deal with deviance among its key members points to abuse of
power on a massive scale.
E. Religious Duress and the Trauma Bond
Many recent civil suits against Catholic dioceses have been brought by adults who
allege that sexual abuse occurred when they were children or adolescents. 370 Church
officials have often questioned the sincerity of plaintiffs who have come forward years
after the alleged abuse occurred. Plaintiffs, victims’ supporters, and psychological
experts counter such accusations with information about the long term effects of clergy
369
Id. at 30.
370
Laurie Goodstein, Trail of Pain in Church Crisis Leads to Nearly Every Diocese, N.Y. Times, Jan. 12,
2003, at A1. Also, the authors conducted an informal poll of 40 plaintiff attorneys the results of which
revealed that nearly 100% of their present clients are over 25 and allege that abuse had taken place when
they were between 12 and 16 years of age. Id.
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