New research group at Goethe University: Power and abuse in the church!

New research group at Goethe University: Power and abuse in the church!

The Goethe University Frankfurt has taken a significant step in researching power structures within the Roman Catholic Church. Shortly before the turn of the year, the university founded a new DFG research group entitled “Power and Abuse in the Roman Catholic Church”. The initiative aims to examine constellations that promote abuse and develop solutions to prevent future abuse. This comes against the backdrop of the shocking cases of abuse that have come to light in Germany since 2010 and underlines the urgency of this issue.

The research group is not only interdisciplinary, but also combines a variety of disciplines. The experts include theologians, religious scholars, philosophers of religion, legal scholars and educational scientists. The Goethe University emphasizes that the group is divided into three clusters: the conditions of vulnerability of people and systems, the power structures in institutions and the theological constitution of power imbalances and abuse of power. This shows the comprehensive approach to the topic.

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Under the leadership of Prof. Anja Middelbeck-Varwick, the research group will initially be funded for four years, with the possibility of an extension for a further four years. The other researchers involved include Prof. Sabine Andresen, Prof. Ute Sacksofsky and Christoph Mandry. Their common goal is to make the knowledge gained usable not only within the church, but also to transfer it to other areas of society in order to effectively combat abuse.

The urgency of the research is also underlined by the research report “Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male members of religious orders”. This report, published in 2018 as part of the MHG study, highlights the dimensions of sexual abuse of minors by clergy and identifies factors that promote abuse in the Roman Catholic church system. Freiburg emphasizes that the scientific examination of the abuse of power within the church represents an ongoing task for theological research.

Continuation of existing research initiatives

In addition to the new research group, the college research group “Polycentricity and Plurality of Pre-Modern Christianity” will also be continued at Goethe University. This group is dedicated to the diverse trends of Christianity up to the 18th century. She uses the term “Christianities” to describe the dynamic development of communities related to Jesus Christ.

Several publications have already been published in the first funding phase of this group. Particular emphasis should be placed on the integration of refugee historians from Ukraine in 2022, who will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of the academic discussion. In the second funding period, the creation of a three-volume compendium on faith and life practices is planned. Prof. Birgit Emich is in charge, while Prof. Hartmut Leppin is the second applicant. The DFG promotes such interdisciplinary research groups in order to strengthen international collaboration between scientists.

Overall, the founding of the new research group and the continuation of existing initiatives show that the Goethe University is actively facing the urgent challenges of coming to terms with abuse of power in the Roman Catholic Church. The aim of interdisciplinary collaboration is not only to gain scientific knowledge, but also to develop concrete measures to prevent misuse.