Clerical Child Sexual Abuse and the Culture Wars in France, 1891–1913

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8958723
AutoresTim Verhoeven (0000-0001-9628-034X, Monash University, autor correspondente)
Ano2023
Volume66
Fascículo4
Páginas842-863
Data de publicação2023-06-26
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Historical Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0018246x23000249
OpenAlexW4382064914
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas12

This article investigates clerical child sexual abuse in the first decades of the French Third Republic. Thanks in large part to the difficulty of accessing relevant archival records, we know very little about this crime or how it was investigated by judicial officials. This study addresses this gap by drawing on a rich and untapped collection of correspondence between local prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice in Paris. The files reveal the process for investigating and prosecuting abusive priests, as well as the reverberations within local communities. Though generated by the state rather than the church, they offer an insight as well into the response of ecclesiastical authorities. Finally, they shed light on the relationship between clerical crime and the culture wars pitting French republicans against Catholics, a conflict that was reaching a peak of intensity in this period. What emerges from this study is an appreciation of the personal toll and political impact of clerical sexual abuse, as well as a new perspective on the recent scandals which have engulfed the Catholic church in a range of nations

Child sexual abuse · Christian ministry · Criminology · Economic Justice · Poison control · Political science · Politics · Sexual abuse · Sociology · State (computer science · Suicide prevention · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law