By Thabisani Dube
HARARE – Religious communities have been urged to guard against the misuse of obedience, forgiveness, sacrifice and humility to silence people who raise concerns about abuse.
German theologian and researcher Philippa Haase made the call during a safeguarding workshop at the Dominican Convent in Harare, where participants examined how religious values can be misused within relationships of authority.
Haase said concepts that are central to religious life should not be used to pressure survivors or members of religious communities into remaining silent or accepting harmful situations.
“Forgiveness is not silence. Forgiveness is not reconciliation. Forgiveness is not the absence of consequences,” she said.
She said while forgiveness may be important within the Christian faith, it should not be used to remove the responsibility of communities and leaders to address wrongdoing.
“Justice is the responsibility of the community, protection is the responsibility of leadership,” Haase said.
Haase, who spent 12 years in a Franciscan community, said her experience of religious life had informed her work as a theologian and researcher on abuse in the Church.
She said obedience should also not be interpreted as requiring religious women to surrender their ability to think, question or make responsible decisions.
“Christian obedience does not mean stop thinking,” she said.
Haase said religious communities should examine what happens when members disagree with those in authority, arguing that the ability to question decisions without fear was an important safeguard against abuse.
“What happens when one sister actually says no? Can she disagree and still belong?” she asked.
She warned that religious language could sometimes make harmful relationships appear acceptable by presenting them as expressions of vocation, sacrifice, humility or unity.
“The problem is not simply the religious word. The problem is the function it performs in the power relationship,” she said.
Haase said healthy spiritual accompaniment should strengthen a person’s ability to discern and make responsible decisions rather than create dependence on a particular spiritual guide.
She said religious women should be able to seek another perspective, change a spiritual director or raise concerns outside their normal chain of command without being made to feel that doing so represented a failure of faith or obedience.
Haase encouraged religious institutions to strengthen three safeguards — choice, voice and exit — to protect members from situations in which authority becomes difficult to challenge.
She said choice should ensure that decision-making powers are clearly understood, while voice should allow members to raise concerns even when their views are inconvenient.
Exit, she said, should provide avenues for members to change a spiritual director, seek external assistance or report concerns outside the normal institutional structures where necessary.
“A good community is one in which someone can say, ‘Something is wrong here,’ and still belong,” Haase said.
The workshop, running from August 19 to 30 at the Dominican Convent in Harare, has brought together more than 70 sisters from congregations in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya and Colombia, alongside social workers, teachers, nurses and media practitioners.
The programme is examining safeguarding, abuse prevention and digital responsibility, with participants also reflecting on survivor experiences and ways of strengthening institutional responses to abuse.
