30/06/2026 14:30 - 17:30

HALL: Pola - AT13

Contact: Langner-Pitschmann A.

Chair: Langner-Pitschmann A., Mandry C.

For years, the Catholic Church worldwide has been confronted with the fact that some of its officials have committed numerous cases of sexual violence against children, adolescents, and adults. The exposure of this scandal highlights not only persistent power asymmetries, but also the ways in which these asymmetries are intertwined with religious narratives, theological ideas, and institutional cultures that shape perceptions of authority and inequality.
The panel examines these structures from a bottom-up perspective, focusing on parishioners, victims and survivors, and those surrounding acts of abuse. It investigates the mechanisms that contribute to the constitution, stabilisation, and—when violence occurs—escalation of unequal power. How do believers come to attribute authority that is resistant to critique? Which narrative, symbolic, or organisational factors contribute to individuals being repeatedly exposed to massive abuse of power? What dynamics inhibit disclosure by bystanders or communities? And how do religious topoi, traditions, and interpretive frameworks reinforce or challenge such inequalities?
Organised by members of the research group Power and Power Abuse (Goethe University Frankfurt, founded 2025), the panel invites contributions from theology, social sciences, psychology, political philosophy, religious studies, and related fields. We explicitly welcome research that engages with comparable forms of religiously inflected inequality, violence, or power asymmetry in other Christian traditions, other religions, or secular institutions, including comparative or narrativity-focused approaches.
We welcome established as well as emerging scholars. Please send your abstract of no more than 300 words to langner-pitschmann@em.uni-frankfurt.de We are happy to answer any questions you might have before you submit.