Power, Preferment, and Patronage: Catholic Bishops, Social Networks, and the Affair(s) of Ex-Cardinal McCarrick

TL;DR

This paper applies Social Network Analysis to study the influence and culture within Catholic bishops' networks, shedding light on how patronage and relationships may facilitate misconduct and cover-ups, exemplified by the McCarrick case.

Contribution

It demonstrates the use of SNA to analyze ecclesiastical networks, providing new insights into church culture and governance related to misconduct and patronage.

Findings

Network analysis reveals influential cliques within bishops' circles.

Patterns of patronage correlate with misconduct cover-ups.

Social structures help explain church responses to abuse cases.

Abstract

Social Network Analysis (SNA) has shed powerful light on cultures where the influence of patronage, preferment, and reciprocal obligations are traditionally important. Accordingly, we argue here that episcopal appointments, culture, and governance within the Catholic Church are ideal topics for SNA interrogation. We analyse original network data for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Significantly, we show how a network-informed approach may help with the urgent task of understanding the ecclesiastical cultures in which sexual abuse occurs, and/or is enabled, ignored, and covered up. Particular reference is made to Theodore McCarrick, the former DC Archbishop "dismissed from the clerical state" for sexual offences. Commentators naturally use terms like "protege", "clique", "network", and "kingmaker" when discussing both the McCarrick affair and church politics more generally: precisely such folk-descriptions of social and political life that SNA is designed to quantify and explain.