Rev. dr GRZEGORZ STRZELCZYK

Father Grzegorz Strzelczyk was ordained a priest in 1998. He studied at the theological seminary in Katowice, at the theological faculty in Lugano and at the Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in dogmatic theology (2004). In the diocese of Katowice, he was the secretary of the diocese (2012-2016). For over twenty years he cooperated with the re-education center for girls run by the Diocesan Caritas in Nierodzim, he also cooperates with victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Father Grzegorz is the editor of diocesan standards for the protection of minors. Currently, he is the parish priest in Tychy. In 2020, he was elected a member of the board of the Saint Joseph Foundation.

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Distrust. Notes on the theological dimension of the consequences of sexual abuse on minors

The Church’s response to the tragedy of sexual abuse of minors committed by clerics most often focuses– for practical reasons – on the legal, psychological and spiritual aspects of this problem. Theological reflection stays somewhat in the background, but it seems necessary to understand the problem fully. First of all, because the spiritual and psychological effects experienced by persons who have been hurt (either directly or through scandal) depend to a large extent on the theological “structure” of the act of faith (and its ecclesial transmission). Secondly, because a proper response of the Church to the tragedy of hurt persons will not be fully possible unless some theological corrections are made – for instance, unhealthy elements of popular version of the theology of the sacrament of Holy Orders made some of the harmed even more vulnerable or led to improper reactions of their relatives and also communities and structures of the Church.