“Does there now need to be a re-examination of the
theology of salvation, in the light of the experience of survivors
of abuse who did not sin but were sinned against?”
Posed by Fr Jim Corkery SJ, this question was elaborated by him in a July 2021 podcast, in preparation for a 2022 NBSCCC conference on the theology of safeguarding. Summarising what he understands to be the church’s current teaching, Fr Corkery points to the problem of an understanding of salvation as happening only after death, in return for the avoidance of sin in this life.