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CPCS Research project

Pilot Project on Restorative Dialogue

HomePilot Project on Restorative Dialogue

Overall aim of the current pilot project:Overall aim of the current pilot project

To foster the relational dimension of Church life and to contribute to restore trust between Church leadership and people affected by the ripple harms of abuse, fostering a culture shift in the Church.

Geographic Location: The project will be conducted in all continents

This research project on 鈥淭owards a Trustworthy Church鈥 included 49 qualitative interviews conducted in all continents, including 15 countries indicate that trust in the Church or its leaders remained, or was established, when victims and those around them had the opportunity to get to know ecclesial leaders such as priests, religious or bishops personally. In other words, a personal relationship on an equal basis can be considered as a means for building or restoring trust. The creation of pilot projects bringing together leaders and lay people on an equal basis to have conversations about trust issues and Church will explore the extent to which these conversations contribute to the rebuilding of trust.

Main researchers

Dr Karlijn Demasure, 性爱学堂, Ottawa, Canada

Dr. Karlijn Demasure holds a doctorate in practical theology from KULeuven (Belgium, 2003). She was the president of the Interdiocesan Service for Pastoral Care in Flanders (Belgium, 2003鈥2007). In 2008, she became a professor at the Faculty of Theology at 性爱学堂 in Ottawa, Canada. She held the Sisters-of-Our-Lady-of-the-Cross Chair in Christian Family Studies from 2008鈥2014 and was appointed dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences and Philosophy (2010鈥2014). From 2012 until 2014, she was the president of the 鈥淪oci茅t茅 Internationale de th茅ologie pratique.鈥 She was a professor at the Gregorian University in Rome (Italy) and the Executive Director of the Center for Child Protection at the same university (2014鈥2019). In 2019, she returned to Canada, where she founded the Centre for Safeguarding Minors and Vulnerable Persons at 性爱学堂, Ottawa, Canada. She is now professor emeritus at the same university and works with a research team on the international project: Towards a Trustworthy Church.

Her field of research is sexual and spiritual abuse, trauma, and pastoral care for victims and survivors. Dr. Demasure has been accompanying survivors of sexual abuse for more than 25 years.

Dr Sheila McMahon, University of San Diego, US

Dr. Sheila M. McMahon is currently the Visiting Scholar and Director for the Restorative Justice and Catholic Social Thought program at the Center for Restorative Justice, University of San Diego. Her research and practice interests center on campus-based and community-level interventions, such as restorative justice (RJ) and transformative justice (TJ), to prevent and address sexualized violence, build a sense of community, and strengthen individual and collective well-being.聽 She is engaged in collaborative research locally and nationally which focuses on the role of trauma-informed, system-aware restorative justice (RJ) responses to sexual harm. She was the PI for the first study in the U.S. about early adopters of RJ and TJ for campus sexual misconduct; participated on the research team for the U.S. National Restorative Justice Research Community (RJRC), an interdisciplinary academic community that supports research on restorative justice to improve outcomes and address inequities in the U.S. criminal legal system; and served as Co-PI for a pilot study on restorative justice responses to military sexual trauma (MST). As a program evaluator, she is the PI for an empowerment evaluation (EE) process that examines RJ implementation on Catholic university campuses in the U.S. Trained at Harvard Divinity School and later at Rutgers University Center on Ending Violence, Dr. McMahon is a licensed clinical social worker in the U.S. and her work is guided by the insights of the survivors whom she has accompanied over the past two decades.

Advisory Board

  • Dr Ivo Aertsen, KULeuven, Belgium
  • Dr James Keenan, Boston College, US
  • Dr Val猫re Nkouaya Mbandji, 性爱学堂, Ottawa, Canada