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Item type:Publication, Faith, Power, and Abuse: Rethinking Obedience in the Catholic Church. A Latin American Case Study with a Focus on Peru(De Gruyter Open, 2025-01-01)This article examines the paradox of obedience in the Latin American Catholic Church, particularly in Peru. Traditionally regarded as a path to spiritual growth and communal harmony, obedience can also serve as a tool for manipulation and abuse, blurring the boundaries between divine and human authority. Drawing on post–Vatican II Church documents and sociological and cognitive history approaches, this article critically examines how certain ecclesial structures and dynamics may contribute to systemic dysfunction, creating conditions that can enable abuses to persist. It argues that obedience, often framed as submission, consolidates power in the hands of a few, fostering environments prone to exploitation. The Sodalicio case, treated here as a document-based case, illustrates how rapid expansion can obscure ethical and spiritual flaws, with mortification and perfection misused to justify harm. By combining critical diagnosis of abusive configurations of obedience with a constructive theological proposal, this article calls for a critical reinterpretation of religious narratives and practices, advocating for ecclesial reform that transcends technical protocols and addresses the systemic issues sustaining abuse.1 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, “He Who Obeys Does Not Err”: Examining Residual Violence in the Practice of Obedience Within the Catholic Church Through a Case Study of the Capuchin Order(De Gruyter Open, 2025-01-01)The Capuchin Order, a key Franciscan reform of the Tridentine Counter-Reformation, has historically emphasized strict, literal obedience to the Rule of Saint Francis. This article critically explores the lived experience of the vow of obedience within the Capuchin framework, focusing on how it can foster forms of “cadaveric obedience,” which may lead to abuse, regression, and depersonalization. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the study examines how these power dynamics persist in the order's practices and structures. Despite contemporary shifts toward individual autonomy, the Capuchin Constitutions maintain a rigid interpretation of obedience, reinforcing a hierarchical system that demands both material and spiritual renunciation, thus reinforcing dependence on authority. By combining autoethnography with anthropological insights into violence, this article contributes to broader discussions on power, control, and abuse prevention within contemporary religious institutions and analogous frameworks.1