Gerald A. ARBUCKLE. Abuse and Coverup: Refounding the Catholic Church in Trauma. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2019. pp.226. $28.00 pb. ISBN 978-1-62698-339-7. Reviewed by Anthony J. POGORELC, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX 78228.

Anthropologist and theologian Gerald Arbuckle draws on the resources of cultural-anthropology and scripture to envision a spirituality and a set of best practices to refound the Catholic Church in trauma. This book addresses two key questions. First, why despite the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on collegiality and transparency does the Church continue to cover-up abuse? Second, how must the culture of the Church change in order for it to move forward? He begins to address these matters by asserting that the Church needs persons who have the consciousness to grasp how it gets trapped in the cultural forces that foster the abuse of power and its concealment, which suffocates its primary mission to proclaim the Gospel.

This book is clearly written. The key points of a chapter are presented and illustrated with quotations from a range of literatures; a useful summary concludes each chapter. The book is a must read for those who want to increase their organizational, cultural and theological knowledge to assist refounding which requires going to the root of corruption so that healing can begin and attitudes and practices are aligned with the mission of Jesus Christ.

Chapter One presents fifteen axioms regarding cultural dynamics that are developed in subsequent chapters. They touch on:

The conservative nature of culture
How symbols create meanings and emotions that direct actions
How myths are the emotional adhesive that internally shapes and cements people together
That myths may portray partial realities which treat the abstract as concrete and manipulate people
That culture is about power
That authority is power legitimately exercised
That hierarchical cultures are prone to abuse power
That acting to change culture evokes grief and resistance
That when one part of a system changes, others are affected too
That genuine institutional change alters the essentials
That institutions are in denial about systemic corruption
That fear of shame motivates cover-ups
That scandals cause both institutional and spiritual downfall
That whistleblowers will be persecuted
That moral panics occur when the defects of one’s own culture are exposed

In Chapter Two, he discusses how certain organizational cultures, such as the hierarchical type, are secretive and self-protective. Clericalism operates out of the pre-Vatican II view of the Church as a perfect society: sufficient unto itself. It idealizes the priesthood and the institution itself. He reviews global systemic patterns of sexual abuse and how they are expressed in particular nations. Anthropologist Mary Douglas’s cultural models concerning “group”(social identity) and “grid”(the strength of social control mechanisms) are applied to the Church.

The pre-Vatican II church was characterized by both a strong group and grid. He describes it as self-regulatory, fictive and familial, and lacking adequate accountability structures. The Vatican II Church is characterized as being weak in regard to group and grid. Relationships tended to be egalitarian with a focus on mission, vision, and values in the formation of “intentional communities.” It was an open to the world and appreciated the need for ongoing reform. However, a deemphasis of law harmed accountability structures. The Restorationists are a fundamentalist movement of strong group and weak grid.Their emergence can be attributed to the failure of the Vatican II leadership to establish ongoing structures to effectively implement the reforms. This allowed power to rebound to the existing Curia which opposed the reforms and aborted them. Today, Pope Francis is trying to pick up from where things were dropped.

Chapter Three acknowledges that revelations of abuse by external sources forced the Church to admit institutional evil. If the Church is not refounded, it will behave like a sect. A model of stages of grief overload is outlined and applied to Church history in the post Vatican II era.

Chapter Four explains and applies a model of cultural disintegration and notes that change initiatives fail if culture not taken seriously. Leadership (doing right thing) and management (doing things right) are both necessary. Leaders call people to be accountable to mission and vision. Because refounding is a transformative faith journey, refounding leaders must be grounded in holiness and the capacity to discern.Pope Francis walks on this path.

Chapter Five lays out reforms required and asserts that laity must be included in governance of the Church. According to prominent canonist Ladislas Orsy, Canon Law can and must change because there is no theological reason for the laity to be excluded from governance. The Church has shaped and reshaped ministry from beginning (Acts 6). Effective formation for new ministries is essential.

Chapter Six lays out a fifteen-point action plan with refounding strategies that are rooted in scripture, mission and spirituality. The plan addresses conversion of the hierarchy, chaos and trauma, collective mourning, healing shame through love, embracing a pilgrim model of Church, criteria for mission, accountability, collaborative leadership, intentional faith communities, popular piety, storytelling and refounding, priestly formation, lay formation, assessment of the effectiveness of the ministry of teaching, sanctifying and governing, and care of survivors.

Arbuckle is fully conscious of the complexity and sensitivity of refounding the Church in trauma. This engaging book is a resource for those who are willing to participate in that challenge.