Bishops behaving badly: Ethical considerations regarding the clergy abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2004

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Abstract

This article examines the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church from an ethical point of view. The article uses the RRICC values model of ethical decision making (i.e., responsibility, respect, integrity, competence, concern) to review the behavior of Catholic bishops and other religious superiors as they have tried to manage clergy sex offenders and their victims. Hopefully, the recent press attention and resulting policy changes on these matters from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops will increase the chances that future decisions will be ethical ones.

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