How do abuses of power by the clergy towards lower-placed clergy and laity come about?
What pathologies are created by this systematic abuse of power?
How does the fixed hierarchy enable or even encourage abuses of power within the church?
Theologian and psychoanalyst Dr. Bernd Deininger examines urgent questions on the basis of unusual cases from his thirty years of professional practice. He demands that
- the strict hierarchical order of the Church give way to an equitable working together
- obedience to higher authority not trump individual critical thinking- celibacy be voluntary and victims of sexual assault receive support from within the Church.
