2nd Annual Nancy Marzella Lecture on Women and American Catholicism

Academic studies and journalistic investigations of Catholic clergy sexual abuse largely center the experiences of men and boys: bishops, priests, deacons, altar boys, schoolboys, and so on. Yet women and girls are part of the story, too — as survivors, whistleblowers, bystanders, and perpetrators. How does our historical understanding of clergy abuse deepen when we turn our focus to women and girls? How do these more hidden stories reveal a larger and more complex story about power in the Church? And what might we hope for the future?