C.Colt Anderson: "Clericalism" [2026]

While there has been much ink spilled on analyses of the sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and elsewhere, C. Colt Anderson’s Clericalism [2026] addresses the disease from a rich and interdisciplinary overview that should send all of us back to the starting line in our efforts to uproot the infection. I must admit that I approached this work in the belief that it focused upon the arrogant pastors and bishops we encounter from time to time during a lifetime—tone deaf proud men, dictators, social climbers, possibly clinical narcissists. I was aware that chronic personality-disordered ordained men were symptomatic of deeper issues in the Church, and of course “the scandals” were a massive jolt. But I had not come across a synthetic analysis of what we were [and are] seeing, at least until now.
 
Clericalism takes us much further into the dangerous theological interpretations of Holy Orders that Church hierarchy has cultivated and enhanced to this day. Specifically, I refer to the teaching that the roots of the present-day theology of priesthood rest upon the catechetical and magisterial insistence that ordained clergy are “ontologically different” from all other baptized persons, all other persons period, really. Anderson makes the argument that princely clericalism—reinforced by the teaching that sacerdotal anointing itself can make every priest an instant king--destroys clerical sanctity while rendering the Church itself flawed and at times dangerous to the entire Catholic community of faith.
 
In his introduction [p. xvi] Anderson describes clericalism as “the idealization of priests and the Catholic Church as an organization [which] hurts everyone.” He opens his work in an interdisciplinary fashion; though a professional Catholic theologian, teacher, and author, he competently draws parallels from the fields of sociology and business to illustrate the kinds of systemic authoritarian overreach to which the Church is not immune. From the business world Anderson borrows the term isomorphic mimicry, “how organizations can take on the appearances of being something they are not.” [p. 28] A specialist in Church History, Anderson lays out for the reader an overview of priestly identity from Apostolic times. He does not pretend to give us the last word on the subject, but his bibliography is thorough.
 
The historical overview begins with the Apostles and their commissioning. Although we think of the first “ordination” as a Last Supper event, the post dinner narrative recorded in Scripture nowhere describes the Eleven as “ontologically perfected” or exempt from present or future sin. Four centuries later St. Augustine would leave with the Church the understanding of original sin; while Baptism was empowered to forgive our inherited guilt of Adam, the African Church Father pulls no punches about the remaining weakness and tendency to sin in all human nature.

Two areas of Anderson’s historical analysis worthy of special attention are his treatment of the Church’s relationship with secular rulers, on the one hand, and the independent development of fraternal monastic structures on the other. Christianity in 300 A.D. was spread throughout the Roman Empire but still subject to persecution from time to time. During the reign of Emperor Constantine [306-337 A.D.] not only did Christianity become legal, but it also became a player in civil affairs virtually to the twentieth century. By the end of the first millennium, the forces of Church and state came to blows, sometimes physical, over issues such as the power of appointing bishops and/or the ownership of monasteries, universities, etc. Anderson cites Pope St. Gregory VII [r. 1073-1085] as a prime mover in the evolution of clerical power and authority.
 
The universities of the Middle Ages created for the Church a supportive philosophy/theology to crystalize definition of universal power, using the categories of the time to describe, for example, how ordained men, by the nature of their ordinations, were different from and superior to laymen. My AI describes ordination as a “spiritual and existential configuration that enables the priest to participate uniquely in Christ’s priesthood while remaining fundamentally human and dependent on divine grace.” While true, it is a definition which can be and has been stretched to justify—sometimes for the official Church, and too many times for erring clerics—the excessive use and abuse of power. Using a contemporary example, Anderson describes the difficulties of lay employees in parishes and dioceses, for example, who can be fired at whim by an ordained employer with no recourse to HR, as none exists in a clerical bureaucracy. One can understand, too, how the early clerical sexual abuse victims had so little luck in seeking acknowledgement from a bishop/diocese: victims had no standing!
 
There is another factor to consider: the fraternity of monks and religious. To grasp the full dimension of clerical brotherhood and its impact today, consider that by the fifth century the monastic life was well on its way, and later, religious orders would flourish, too. Not unreasonably, monastic spirituality and rules embodied brotherhood as a major virtue. The early Jesuit Peter Faber [1506-1546] wrote that “brotherly concord” included a prohibition of judging the deeds of others. [pp. 92-93] A noble inspiration, to be sure, but one with little or no room for fraternal correction. In present-day America, if recent research is correct, many clergy are highly reluctant to report misconduct for fear that the accused would in turn reveal something unseeming about the reporter. Anderson’s interviews with seminarians bear this out, as does a recent spike in newly ordained priests leaving the ministry as early as five years after ordination, per The Catholic Project [2023] and National Catholic Register [2025].

St. Pius X [r. 1903-1914] famously wrote: “It is not fitting that the servant be applauded in his Master’s House.” Anderson’s closing sentiments fall under the heading, “Changing the Narrative.” [pp. 131ff] He advocates an embrace of humility for those men ordained to minister, and a baptismal partnership with lay and cleric under the Catholic tent.