The Catholic Church Abuse Crisis in the United States: An in-depth analysis of facts and responses

Abstract

This dissertation will analyze the topic of sexual abuse committed by clergy within the American Catholic Church over the decades from a historiographical perspective. This research also concentrates on exploring the tools and strategies developed by the Vatican to try to put an end to the issue between the 1980s and 2000s. Furthermore, a focus on the development of the Canon law regarding abuses and a study case on the Cardinal Theodore McCarrick are provided too. The goal of this thesis is to understand what the patterns behind sexual abuse are, what approaches the Vatican and, specifically, the U.S. Catholic Church have developed and whether the situation in the years following the 2002 Boston scandal has changed.