Kirchliche Macht und kindliche Ohnmacht

The question of power in the churches takes on a new dimension and urgency as a result of the devastating consequences of abuse. The Department of Catholic Theology at Goethe University has devoted two conferences to this topic and posed questions about religiously constituted power and powerlessness. In particular, the (lack of) power and responsibility culture of the overall organisation "Catholic Church" was examined. This was done from a social science, legal, theological-systematic and theological-ethical perspective. The articles focus on the interfaces between theological and social science research into power and violence and shed light on vulnerability, gender aspects, intersectionality and organisational structural dynamics: What are the specifics of the Catholic constitution of power and powerlessness? How are these reflected in the church's self-image, doctrine, organisation and internal culture as well as in the constitutional attitude towards churches in Germany? And last but not least: How do they affect the documentation of cases of abuse and abuse research itself?