clerical abuse
Religious authority exploitation
Clerical abuse refers to misconduct by clergy members, especially sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests.
The term gained widespread use during scandals revealing systematic abuse and institutional cover-ups within the Church: The diocese faced multiple clerical abuse lawsuits.
It can also apply to abuse by religious leaders in other faiths.
Less commonly, clerical abuse refers to mistreatment by office workers or bureaucrats.
- cover-upsActs of concealing wrongdoing
- hush moneyPayment to ensure secrecy
- sexual misconductImproper intimate behavior
- physical violenceForceful bodily harm
- criminal prosecutionGovernment's legal action against accused
trauma · breach of trust · stigma · depression · civil lawsuits · victim compensation · anxiety · policy reforms · psychological coercion · whistleblower protections · survivor testimony · investigative journalism · emotional manipulation · financial fraud · psychological distress · power imbalance · broken vows · moral authority
- church offensesheresy, apostasy, schism, blasphemy, sacrilege
- Belgian Catholicismabbeys, archdioceses, bishoprics, cardinals, convents
- Church disputesschism, Great Schism, Arian controversy, Monophysitism, iconoclasm
- Irish ChristianitySt. Patrick, Catholic Church, monasticism, abbeys, patron saints
- sacrilegeblasphemy, desecration, profanation, idol worship, idolatry
- sexual sinsfornication, adultery, lust, lechery, lewdness
clerical abusechild protection
Measures ensuring youth safety
abuse prevention · victim advocacy · survivor support · whistleblowing · institutional reform
clerical, abuse, cleric, clerics, clerk, clerks, clerking, clerked, clerkship