A Pastoral Care Approach to Child Sexual Abuse in Ghana

A Theological Reflection Informed by a Relational View of the Trinity

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is both a moral transgression and a criminal offence, with consequences that reverberate throughout the child’s life and across the family, the community, and the nation. In Ghana, CSA is documented as pervasive across social institutions, including faith communities, yet it has received comparatively little sustained theological attention. This article develops a theological-pastoral response to CSA in the Ghanaian context, drawing on a relational understanding of the Trinity. Using Holland and Henriot's pastoral circle as an integrative method, the study situates practical theology in conversation with trinitarian doctrine to transform ecclesial praxis and Christian spirituality in relation to CSA. It argues that a relational doctrine of the Trinity provides a robust theological foundation for both a pastoral anthropology of children and an ecclesiology grounded in mutuality, equality, and interconnectedness—one capable of flattening entrenched power gradients and redirecting power towards life-giving ends among persons of equal worth.