L’abus ordinaire dans les communautés monastiques féminines: une approche structurelle transnationale

Abstract

The issue of abuse of Catholic nuns has only recently come to public attention, unlike abuse of children or adult lay women. However, in recent years, more and more cases of spiritual or sexual abuse of power perpetrated in female communities have come to light. But how is this possible? This article aims to examine the structural mechanisms of female monastic communities, including their gender relations with priests or male communities, which make such abuse possible. Placing the subject in the specific context of monastic life governed by ascetic discipline, the question arises as to when an ascetic practice can become abusive. After studying five types of structures identified as enabling abuse, I place the individual nun within three levels: intellectual, spiritual and physical. While none of the structures themselves or the relationships of individuals to the structures directly produce abuse, the combination of these different elements makes it possible. Based on field research conducted in Catholic monastic communities in Europe and Africa between 2004 and 2021, as well as interviews with former nuns conducted between 2020 and 2024, this article offers an empirical approach to a subject that has not yet been widely explored.