Power Imbalance in Consecrated Life: Vatican Commission Reexamines Vulnerability Beyond Age

The spiritual journey of women religious has long been understood as a path of surrender and service, yet a troubling shadow has emerged within these sacred communities. For years, a legal blind spot has left consecrated women who suffer abuse without adequate protection under canon law, which primarily safeguards minors and adults with disabilities. The assumption that an adult who has received formation can defend herself or has consented has created a dangerous loophole.

Claudia Giampietro, an Italian canon lawyer working at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, is helping to reframe this spiritual crisis. “It cannot simply be a label of ‘vulnerable adult,'” she explained to EWTN News. “We must understand that there are situations of imbalances of power… and situations involving abuse, and so it is these situations of vulnerability that we need to examine more deeply.”

The commission’s work reveals a profound truth about spiritual communities: vulnerability is not merely a matter of age or capacity, but of context and power dynamics. Giampietro noted that women religious face complex circumstances “both within their communities and also outside them,” requiring a deeper examination of the environments where ministry unfolds. This shift in perspective invites the faithful to recognize that spiritual maturity does not erase the need for communal protection and justice.