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The Lay Cistercian Review · Easter Season 2026 · Articles

Can Easter Hope Heal Church-based Abuse?

Dr. Christopher Evan Longhurst, KSO Cistercian Associate of Kopua · Aotearoa New Zealand

In the garden of Gethsemane, Christ’s disciples failed him in his hour of greatest need. When the temple guards arrived with torches and weapons, they abandoned him and fled into the darkness. This betrayal by those closest to him—those who had walked with him, learned from him, shared meals at his table—represents perhaps the most profound wound in the Gospel narrative.

Confronting the Tomb

The institutional Church today faces its own Gethsemane moment. Decades of sexual abuse scandals, institutional cover-ups, and betrayals of trust have left many faithful questioning whether resurrection is possible for an institution so seemingly corrupt at its core.

Yet it is precisely in this darkness that the Easter message becomes most relevant. The risen Christ who appeared to his disciples bore the wounds of his crucifixion—not as marks of shame, but as signs of authentic healing that acknowledges rather than denies the reality of suffering.

Justice and Accountability in the Benedictine Spirit

Saint Benedict’s Rule offers a framework for institutional healing that balances mercy with accountability. The abbot who fails in his duties must be corrected, and if necessary, removed. Yet this correction is always ordered toward restoration, not merely punishment.

Resurrecting Trust and Truth

The path forward requires acknowledging the failures of the Church’s leaders and holding them to account while refusing to let those failures have the final word. Like Thomas touching Christ’s wounds, we must confront the reality of harm done while maintaining hope in the possibility of renewal.

Resurrecting Victim-Centredness

Support for survivors is central to these frameworks. While policies emphasise a compassionate, victim-centred response—providing access to counselling and spiritual care—such commitments must not only be articulated but demonstrably implemented.

Saint Benedict’s Rule in Dealing With Abuse in the Church

The Rule of St Benedict calls for truth, accountability, the protection of the vulnerable, and genuine justice. Any culture of concealment or minimisation of abuse stands in direct contradiction to its principles. Increasingly, Benedictine communities articulate this vision as a commitment to a culture of protection, transparency, and healing.

Caution Around Easter Imagery

The connection between Easter hope and healing from church-based abuse is real. However, it must be approached with care and honesty. When used superficially, it risks becoming a form of spiritual bypassing. Though when taken seriously, the themes of Easter—especially the account of the risen Christ—can offer profound points of connection for survivors.

Most significantly, woundedness is not erased by resurrection. In the Gospel accounts, the risen Christ still bore the wounds of the crucifixion. Healing, therefore, does not mean forgetting or erasing trauma. Survivors are invited to see that even in resurrection, wounds remain visible and acknowledged. Survivor stories matter. They do not need to be hidden. Authentic healing requires truth-telling and accountability, not denial. Systems that rush prematurely to the language of “resurrection” without justice risk perpetuating harm. In contrast, the Easter narrative affirms the importance of naming abuse clearly and without minimisation.

The crucifixion further reveals that God is found with the victim, not with those who misuse religious authority. This challenges distorted images of God that have been used to control or silence. It reassures survivors that God is not aligned with abusers, even when institutions appear to be. In this way, faith can be reframed not as loyalty to a failing institution, but as solidarity with those who suffer.

Resurrection, then, is about the restoration of dignity rather than the protection of institutional reputation. After the resurrection, Christ restores individuals, not systems. Accordingly, the dignity, voice, and agency of survivors must take precedence over preserving the Church’s image. Genuine “Easter renewal” requires repair, restitution, and transformed behaviour. The post-resurrection community is not unchanged. It is humbler, more honest, and shaped by the ownership of its own failures.

A necessary caution remains. In some church contexts, Easter language has been misused to silence survivors, for example, through appeals to “forgive and move on.” Such responses do not reflect the truth of Easter. They represent avoidance. Properly understood, Easter hope insists that wounds are named, truth is spoken, dignity is restored, and new life emerges not by denying suffering, but by passing through it.

At the same time, it is important to acknowledge the limitations of an Easter-focused response to abuse within church-based systems. Institutional responses may continue to fail victims and survivors due to structural, cultural, and theological barriers that prioritise the institution over the individual. These limitations often include the protection of reputation, a lack of professional expertise, and processes that can re-traumatise survivors through closed and adversarial procedures.

Ultimately, those who caused harm are unlikely to provide the empathy or resolution necessary for healing. Continued reliance on them can deepen the wound. In this context, leaving can be an act of self-respect rather than hostility. It creates the space for genuine healing to begin, releasing the burden of wishing the past had been different and loosening the hold of unresolved pain.

For this reason, Easter should not be reduced to a demand for forgiveness. Contemporary, biblically grounded interpretations emphasise that forgiveness is not intended to erase boundaries or silence victims. Rather, the Easter message proclaims the victory of life over death, the possibility of renewal, and the restoration of what has been broken. This hope is not only future-oriented; it shapes the present, enabling a quiet but real experience of peace. The triumph of good over evil becomes something to live from now, not merely to wait for.

As a season of new beginnings, Easter affirms that brokenness can be repaired and despair can give way to hope and even joy. It gestures toward a horizon where suffering does not have the final word. Its promise is one of healing for the wounded, where light overcomes darkness. The proclamation, “He is not here; for he is risen,” ultimately invites us to step out of the darkness of the past to live, however gradually, more fully in light of the present.

Conclusion

Drawing on the moral vision of St Benedict’s Rule, this article has reflected on the complex relationship between Easter hope and healing from church-based abuse. At its heart, the Benedictine vision is grounded in truthfulness, humility, accountability, and the commitment to continual conversion of life. Read in this light, the Easter narrative does not erase wounds but honours them. The risen Christ, still bearing the marks of crucifixion, reveals that healing does not require forgetting, nor does new life come at the cost of truth. Rather, authentic renewal—whether personal or communal—emerges through honest acknowledgment, just action, and the restoration of dignity.

At the same time, this reflection has recognised the limitations of institutional responses that fall short of these ideals. Where structures prioritise reputation over justice, they stand in tension not only with the Gospel, but also with the Benedictine commitment to holiness.

Ultimately, Easter hope, understood through a Benedictine lens, is neither superficial optimism nor a demand for premature forgiveness. It is a disciplined, present, and truthful hope—one that insists on naming reality as it is, while remaining open to the possibility of transformation. In this way, Easter becomes not an instrument of avoidance, but a horizon of renewal where truth is honoured, dignity is restored, and new life begins, even after profound harm.