Confronting Ecclesial Sin and Galvanizing a Shared Project for Moral Repair

The Church presents itself as the visible presence of God in the world, a holy institution, and a place of sanctification. The Church is also a locus of sin, both through individual acts and through structures that resist transparency, accountability, and equitable power-sharing in the Church. If we are to respond to the new challenges of our time, then we need theological ethics to confront the moral harm caused by these sinful actions and structures as well as map out pathways toward moral repair. This essay proposes a category of «ecclesial sin» to identify the dimensions of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional damage caused by a betrayal of sacred trust and sacred power vested in Church leaders as ordained in persona Christi. It then explores how to deliver moral repair through seven commitments: reckoning, repentance, repairing relationships, restorative justice, reparations, reclaiming prophetic voice, and reforming structures.