Seeking Wholeness: Women Dealing with Abuse of Power in the Catholic Church

Seeking Wholeness by Marie Evans Bouclin is a heartfelt, frank discussion about sexual abuse suffered by women by Catholic priests. This book is important because it brings to light an aspect of Catholic clergy sexual abuse that hasn't been widely covered by the media. Ms. Bouclin focuses on how damaging sexual abuse by priests is to women. She shows how a high percentage of the women who were manipulated into having sexual relations with priests had been sexually abused as children. Many Catholic doctrines also impact a vulnerable woman, for example, that the priest is God's representative on earth and as such must be obeyed as if he were God. This sends a confusing message to women who are seeking healing from childhood abuse, who see the priests as father figures. Instead of finding the healthy validation and emotional healing they seek when counseling with a priest, the women who shared their stories in this book were damaged further and retraumatized. As vulnerable adults, it isn't correct to blame the women who were manipulated and abused. The blame needs to fall squarely on the priests because religion is supposed to be a haven for those needing help. Instead, religion is used to manipulate and abuse over and over again. An added depth and dimension of this book is the stories shared by women who were sexually abused. These brave women discussed how the lack of ability to trust the priests affected their concept of religion and of God. I also think this book is important because of the overall pattern of 'man of God representing God' that many religious philosophies embrace. This problem is not limited to the Catholic Church but can be found in any religious group where the minister is seen as infallible and as a person who must be obeyed without question.

Seeking Wholeness: Women Dealing With Abuse Of Power In The Catholic Church, written by professional theology and ethics translator Marie Evans Bouclin, gathers the expertise and testimony of the authors' experience striving to redress the physical and spiritual needs of women who have suffered betrayal and sexual abuse (ranging from being persuaded through an abuse of power and influence to have a sexual relationship with a priest to rape) by priests, particularly Catholic priests. Seeking Wholeness also addresses the betrayal of women who are not necessarily sexually exploited, but who are sexually discriminated against in that they are summarily dismissed from a parish or church-related job without reason or recourse. Seeking Wholeness addresses the male-centered power dynamic of the Catholic Church that utterly excludes lay people and therefore offers fewer checks and balances against corruption within, as well as stripping Catholics of responsibility for their own spirituality. Above all, Seeking Wholeness emphasizes the critical importance of recognizing the problem, of allowing and encouraging women's stories to be told. Much has been written concerning priest sexual abuse of children; less has been spoken of sexual abuse of women, and Seeking Wholeness strives to rectify the gap as well as offer steps toward healing and exposure of innate flaws in the Catholic power system and patriarchal faith doctrine that will continue to cultivate abusers until rectified.

Marie Evans Bouclin, a Canadian, currently works as a translator of theology and ethics and coordinates Women's Ordination Worldwide. She was relieved of her duties as personal assistant to the bishop of her diocese following newspaper reports of her participation in a workshop for churchwomen. Her demotion to back-room file clerk proved so stressful that Bouclin suffered from burnout and various other health problems, leading to her resignation. At the same time, she was receiving messages of gratitude for speaking out against oppression of women in the Catholic Church. Over the following months, she heard from a number of women with their own stories of abuses of power suffered at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops. In some instances, the abuse was sexual; in others, it was related to unfair dismissal from church work. For this book, Bouclin developed composite stories representing experiences she's heard privately or in workshops. Her earliest experiences found women who were reluctant or unwilling to speak out about their situations. As a result of that observation, and from reading and working with counselors and others experienced in helping abused women, Bouclin developed the theories she presents here, among them: the existence of a co-dependent relationship between many of the abused and their abusers and the innate power of the priesthood over the laity, and women in particular, who are helpless so long as they have no decision-making role in the Church. In the second half of the book, Bouclin offers suggestions for setting up support groups, confronting spiritual abuse, and embracing spiritual avenues to recovery. Appendixes to help readers identify symptoms of abusive relationships with priests and exploitation by the Church are included, as are a comprehensive bibliography and detailed index.