Chapter 4: Sexual Scandals in the Catholic Church: The Urgency of Building a New Formative Culture

Abstract

Sexual scandals have contributed to a change in the Church’s mindset in how it deals with those involved in, or affected by, sexual misconduct. However, for such a change to be effective, the Church must act decisively by putting in place a new formative program and culture for clergy, religious, seminarians and ecclesial authorities. The author focuses his attention not on the scandals themselves, but rather on some necessary elements missing from the present formative processes, whether they have been ignored, denied, excluded, or not even considered. He posits that there is an urgent need to have a more expansive formation that contributes both to sexual health and to the integration of sexuality into one’s project of life. Overcoming a series of misguided understandings about the relationship between formation and sexuality is the only way to promote a new culture of prevention within the Church.