IT IS THE GREATEST CRISIS EVER TO FACE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH—the sexual molestation of minors by priests and the way the church hierarchy tried to cover up the situation, endangering more children in the process. Once it became common knowledge in 2002, the ugly reality of a dysfunctional institution corrupted by the complicity of cardinals and bishops in the sins of a relatively small number of molesting priests has brought a powerful institution to disgrace. Unable to postpone coping with this tragic reality, its leaders have been forced to begin the recovery process. But will it go far enough? More than 60 million people in the U.S. are in a position to choose to let the church be or to demand changes. Catholics at a Crossroads: Coverup, Crisis, and Cure offers a penetrating analysis of how the unthinkable happened and what exactly the Catholic Church needs to do to remedy the situation.
IT IS THE GREATEST CRISIS EVER TO FACE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH—the sexual molestation of minors by priests and the way the church hierarchy tried to cover up the situation, endangering more children in the process. Once it became common knowledge in 2002, the ugly reality of a dysfunctional institution corrupted by the complicity of cardinals and bishops in the sins of a relatively small number of molesting priests has brought a powerful institution to disgrace. Unable to postpone coping with this tragic reality, its leaders have been forced to begin the recovery process. But will it go far enough? More than 60 million people in the U.S. are in a position to choose to let the church be or to demand changes. Catholics at a Crossroads: Coverup, Crisis, and Cure offers a penetrating analysis of how the unthinkable happened and what exactly the Catholic Church needs to do to remedy the situation.