Background
The International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology (INSeCT) has launched a 3-year, global research project on ‘the nature, function and location of theology, with particular attention to the power of theology to overcome power abuse in Church and Society’. Each member society is asked to interpret and respond to the project title in a way that is relevant to the contemporary realities of its region. Findings will be presented at INSeCT’s next global congress in summer 2014.
The European response
Following consultation, the European Society of Catholic Theology (ESCT) proposes to facilitate a Europe-wide, interdisciplinary collaboration of Catholic theologians, philosophers, and social scientists to explore the nature, scope and context of power abuse, and – significantly – the means by which it may be overcome. Given the gravity of recent revelations, a major focus of the project will be the sexual abuse crisis in all its dimensions: theological, historical, psychological, sociological, legal (canon and secular), political, etc. However, within the Church, abuses of power (or allegations thereof) are not confined to this issue alone. Nor, of course, is either power or its (potential for) abuse exclusive to the Church. In focusing on one type and/or location of abuse, it is important not to become blind to others, whether social, cultural, economic, or political. As such, the project will seek to explore the following research questions:
What is ‘power abuse’? (e.g., How does one recognize it? Is all power liable to be abused? How does one distinguish between legitimate authority, and abusive power?)
What forms does it take? (e.g., Social, cultural, economic, or political? Religious or secular? Personal, communal, or individual?)
What are its causes and/or catalysts? (e.g., Is it an individual, social, or structural phenomenon? Is it inevitable?)
How can it be prevented? (e.g., Once abuse is recognized, how to stop it? How to stop it happening again?)
How can it be overcome? (e.g., How can individuals, groups, and/or institutions involved ‘move on’? Abuser and abused? How to live with what we have done, and/or what we have failed to do?)
In exploring all these questions, participants will need to consider their significance for the Church’s proclamation of Jesus Christ: conceived by ‘the power of the Most High’ (Lk 1.35), a prophet ‘powerful in word and deed’ (Lk 24.19), yet who was executed by one with ‘power to release… and power to crucify’ (Jn 19.10), and who will come again ‘with great power and glory’ (Mk 13.26).
Structure and Timetable
The project will be led by Dr Stephen Bullivant, St Mary’s University College (UK), on behalf of ESCT. It will primarily be structured around a network of higher education institutions drawn from across Europe. Colleagues from these institutions, and others, will meet and correspond regularly. In accordance with INSeCT’s desire for collaboration between regional projects, there will also be a significant element of dialogue and exchange with the Catholic Theological Society of the Philippines (DaKaTeo).
Funding permitting, regular workshops, conferences, and public events will be held; communication of the project’s findings to colleagues in other regions and disciplines, and to the European public at large (via the media), will be a significant feature. An interim meeting of all participants will be held at the ESCT congress in 2013, prior to the following year’s INSeCT congress. The project will produce at least one major volume of essays, to be finished (if not yet published) by summer 2014. It is also very much hoped that the ‘core’ ESCT initiative will give rise to, and be enriched by, complementary research projects by other groups. Furthermore, although the working language of the project will be English, it is hoped that its findings will be disseminated in many other languages throughout Europe (and beyond).
The rest of the academic year 2011/12 will be devoted to identifying interested researchers and institutions, detailed planning of the project, and applying for research and networking funding. The project itself will run over the course of the academic years 2012/13 and 2013/14.
Call for Expressions of Interest
All ESCT members interested in participating in the project, and/or being added to the project’s mailing list, should contact: stephen.bullivant@smuc.ac.uk (the sooner the better). Those interested in participating should give details of their interest and expertise.
