Paragraph 89 is perhaps my favorite passage from Pope Leo’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas.
It’s at the end of a short section titled “An examen for the Church,”
where Pope Leo makes the case that the Church must live out its own
social doctrine “within its own structures” in order to be faithful to
the Gospel and to be a credible witness to the world.
In all of the teaching I’ve done about spiritual abuse in the
Catholic Church, I’ve contextualized spiritual abuse within the
principles and framework of Catholic social doctrine. I do this because I
believe the Church’s teaching on things like human dignity, freedom,
conscience, subsidiarity, structures of sin, and solidarity can not only
show how gravely harmful spiritual abuse is, but also how abuse of
power is a systemic problem in the Church that we all can participate in
or choose to disrupt. And by framing my presentation on abuse in the
Church’s own teaching, I can show that I’m not trying to tear down the
Church, but rather trying to help the Church live up to it’s own
identity and mission.
In other words, Catholic Social Doctrine provides real tools for
conceptualizing and responding to systemic abuse in the Church. So it’s
both intellectually and emotionally affirming when the pope takes that
exact same approach. In paragraph 89, Pope Leo says:
“Living out justice in the Church means purifying
ecclesial relationships and structures from distortions that give rise
to inequality, lack of transparency and abuse of power.”
Abuse of power isn’t a problem of a few bad apples; it’s a structural
problem that requires structural renewal. And what are the steps of
that renewal? Leo continues:
“In this regard, listening to the victims of spiritual,
economic, institutional, sexual and power-based abuse, as well as abuses
of conscience, is an integral part of a journey toward justice, which
includes acknowledging the harm done, just reparation and taking steps
to prevent it from happening again. Every power is at the service of
communion and mission. All authority is at the service of the People of
God.”
- Listen to survivors of abuse
- Acknowledge the harm we’ve done
- Make just reparation
- Take action to prevent the harm from happening again
These steps that Pope Leo expresses are a reiteration of the final document from the Synod on Synodality, which said:
“The Church needs to listen with special attention and
sensitivity to the voices of victims and survivors of sexual, spiritual,
economic, power and conscience abuse by members of the clergy or
persons with Church appointments. Listening is a fundamental element of
the path to healing, repentance, justice and reconciliation…the Church
must acknowledge its own shortcomings. It must humbly ask for
forgiveness, must care for victims, provide for preventative measures,
and strive in the Lord to rebuild mutual trust” (2024 Final Synod
Document, 55).
Further, these four steps are deeply connected to the three acts of
the penitent in the Sacrament of Reconciliation: contrition, confession
of sins, and satisfaction.
First, I examine my conscience and, if my heart is open, I experience
a “sorrow of the soul” for the harm I’ve caused (CCC 1451).
Then I must acknowledge what I did, out loud, to another person.
“Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty
of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to
God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future
possible” (CCC 1455).
Finally, I must take real-world responsibility for the harm I caused.
“Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to
repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of
someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice
requires as much” (CCC 1459).
Pope Leo, mirroring these personal acts of the penitent, is calling
the Church as a whole, as an institution, as a Body, to listen to
survivors of all types of abuse. We must let the stories of our brothers
and sisters pierce our hearts and grieve our consciences. Then we (you,
me, priests, bishops, every Catholic) must be willing to let go of our
self-protection and transparently admit where the Church has caused
harm. Finally, we must take (and must demand of our leaders)
responsibility to make reparation for that harm however we can and do
what is necessary to prevent it from happening again. And we must do
this even if that means we sacrifice for it, even if it hurts, even if
it costs the Church status, power, or security.
Pope Leo is clear that only when the Church lives with this kind of
integrity will we “be able to bear credible witness to society” (MH 89).
