The research project is funded by the SNF (Swiss National Science Foundation) for a period of 48 months. The project is being carried out by Prof. Dr. Adrian Loretan and Dr. Zalman Rothschild (Nonresident fellow).

1) Abstract:

This project asks how legal orders can and should balance the structural rights of religious institutions with the human rights of individuals as well as the applications of secular laws.  The project focuses on the doctrine of "church autonomy" in the United States, and especially on how this doctrine gets applied to clergy sex abuse, which represents arguably one of the most important religious freedom issues of our time. The project will interrogate the doctrine of “Church autonomy” in American constitutional law and in Church canon law and propose a workable balance between respecting religious institutional autonomy and protecting individual rights. 

2) Lay Summary:

1. Lead:  The church sex abuse scandal is one of the most important religious freedom issues of our time. This crisis is exacerbated by the lack of corporate liability for religious institutions under the doctrine of “Church autonomy”. This project focuses on this doctrine in the United States, where the most clergy sex abuse lawsuits have so far occurred. American constitutional jurisprudence has also robustly developed a Church autonomy doctrine, which in turn serves as a model for other countries.

2. Aims of the research project: In a series of articles, this project will interrogate the doctrine of “Church autonomy” in American constitutional law and will propose a workable balance between respecting religious institutional autonomy and protecting individual rights. Such a balance will be required if religious institutions are to be held accountable by the state, i.e., by an independent, external, authority.  This project will not only be descriptive and explanatory but also prescriptive. Constitutional and religious initiatives are needed to tackle the ascendent tension between religious freedom and secular law. This project will suggest future developments that will provide meaningful contributions to the shaping of constitutional and religious law in general and as they might apply in cases of clergy sex abuse in particular. The project will have implications for how legal orders can and should balance the structural rights of religious institutions with the human rights of individuals and applications of secular law in general. 

3. Context of the research project: Academic discourse has failed to appreciate the importance of “Church autonomy” and the role it plays in clergy sex abuse litigation. This project will serve as a corrective and fill this vacuum, which will provide broader insights into how institutional religious freedom should interact with individual human rights.

4. Recently published literature:

• Documentary (TV): Helmar Büchel (Regie), Schweigen und Vertuschen. Die Todsünden der katholischen Kirche, BR 2022. Online in der ARTE-Mediathek.
• Adrian Loretan (Hg.), Machtmissbrauch und sexuelle Gewalt in der Kirche. Beiträge aus Rechtswissenschaften und Theologie von Adrian Loretan, Mary McAleese, Doris Reisinger und Wolfgang Treitler, Wien/Zürich 2023 (=ReligionsRecht im Dialog Bd. 33).
• Ders., Ein katholischer Priester vergewaltigt seine Schwägerin, in: INTAMS Review 26 (2/2019), 245-247.
• Ders., Einklagbare Grundrechte. Das Kirchenrecht angesichts von sexualisierter Gewalt und Machtmissbrauch, in: Herder Korrespondenz 2/2019, 28-31.
• Ders., Sexuelle Gewalt von Amtsträgern gegen Kinder. Ein menschenrechtliches Plädoyer, in: Julia Enxing/Dominik Gautier (Hg.), unter Mitarbeit von Dorothea Wojtczak, Satisfactio. Über (Un-)Möglichkeiten von Wiedergutmachung, Leipzig/Paderborn 2019, 13-57.
• Ders., Menschenrechte in der Kirche - ein Schutz vor Machtmissbrauch, in: Stephan Haering/Johann Hirnsperger/Gerlinde Katzinger/Wilhelm Rees (Hg.), In mandatis meditari. Festschrift für Hans Paarhammer zum 65. Geburtstag, Berlin 2012, 263-283.
• Martin Ebner, Braucht die katholische Kirche Priester? Eine Vergewisserung aus dem NT, Würzburg 2022.Judith Hahn, Die Ordnung der Liturgie, die Liturgie der Ordnung. Rollenbildung und -konflikte in kirchlichen Ritualen, in: ThG 65 (1/2022), 59-72.
• Hildegrund Keul, Können Wunden eine glückhafte Wendung nehmen? Zur Verweandlungskraft liturgischer Sprache, in: Katrin Kusmierz u.a., Sagt doch einfach, was Sache ist! Sprache im Gottesdienst, Zürich 2022, 107-122.

3) Key Words:

Church Autonomy, Religious Freedom, Clergy Sex Abuse, US Constitutional Law, Law and Religion, Canon Law