Author: Ulrich L. Lehner, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame - Google Scholar, ORCID, Wikipedia

Abstract: »In 1747, Johann Conrad Arbogast Gauch, a parish priest in the diocese of Constance, was executed for serial child abuse – a unique outcome among known clerical cases in the eighteenth-century Holy Roman Empire. Drawing on extensive inquisition records, this article examines how Church and State authorities negotiated jurisdiction, reputation and punishment when clerical crime threatened moral and social order, exposing tensions between justice, discipline and institutional self-preservation.« (Source: Journal of Ecclesiastical History)

Contents:

	Defining sodomy, abuse and punishment in early modern jurisprudence (p. 4)
	Learning, authority, and trust: Gauch as priest, dean and educator (p. 7)
	The emergence of a public accusation (p. 9)
	Victims, accomplices and the crisis of public trust (p. 11)
	The ecclesiastical tribunal: confession, evasion and judgement (p. 14)
	Jurisdictional conflicts and the delayed course of justice (p. 17)
	Condemnation and preparation for the execution (p. 20)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Germany / Holy Roman Empire | Catholic Church: Catholic Church in Germany / Diocese of Constance | Sex and the law: Child sexual abuse / Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Germany