In The Shame That Lingers: A Survivor-Centered Critique of Catholic Sin-Talk A. Denise Starkey
argues that the dominant legal model of sin in the Catholic Church is inadequate for hearing
the experience of sin for survivors of childhood and domestic violence because it functions to
shame rather than to heal. A universal understanding of the sinner as found in mainstream
Catholic sin-talk and confession impedes human flourishing by silencing radical suffering in
ways that make survivors complicit for the harm done to them. Starkey argues that a shame-free
theology of sin is necessary if survivors are to encounter the profound love of God.
Understanding sin from the perspective of the sinned-against makes possible a transformative
solidarity with the other by reinvisioning the roles of speaker and listener.
