When values ​​clash

The Catholic Church, Sexual Abuse, and the Challenges to the Church Hierarchy - Joseph Chinnici, a historian and highly regarded observer of the American Catholic Church, was serving as provincial superior of the Franciscan friars in California when the order was rocked by sexual abuse by some of its members, several years before the issue escalated into a national scandal. Combining the skill and dispassion of a historian with his own extraordinarily relevant experiences within a highly fraught public and institutional atmosphere, the author offers us a rare glimpse into what happened then and what must happen now in order to restore credibility and trust. If Catholics are to learn from this mess, extract some lasting lessons, and embark on the path of healing and renewal, they will do well to pay close attention to Father Chinnici's intelligent, theologically grounded, psychologically informed, and deeply pastoral analysis and assessment of one of the greatest challenges that Roman Catholicism has faced in decades, if not centuries. His experience as Provincial of the Franciscans and his reflections on the basis of his intellectual legacy, drawing deeply on the sources of Franciscan spirituality for inspiration and guidance, drawing on the lives and writings of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Bonaventure, along with important insights from St. Augustine, provide an invaluable insight into the challenges facing spiritual leadership and the ecclesiastical hierarchy in our time. Joseph P. Chinnici, OFM, Ordo Fratrum Minorum, is a Franciscan friar and Professor of Church History in the Franciscan Faculty of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. An Oxford-educated historian, he is a widely respected scholar, teacher, and speaker. A priest and spiritual teacher, he has held a variety of leadership positions. In addition to his current university duties, he chairs the Commission for the Recovery of the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition (CFIT).

Joseph P. Chinnici

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