This volume takes a close, dispassionate look at the entire history of the issue of sexual abuse among the clergy, and especially among the Roman Catholic clergy. From the first rumblings to today's headlines, Philip Jenkins has written a fascinating, exhaustive, and, above all, even-handed account that not only puts this particular crisis in perspective, but offers an eye-opening look at the way in which an issue takes hold of the popular imagination. Jenkins reassures us about our local clergy, but also delivers a disturbing message about how vulnerable we are to the news media. Meticulously documented and dispassionately argued, this volume marks a watershed in the discussion of an issue of enormous current interest, one that will not disappear from the headlines any time soon.

1. The Construction of Problems and Panics; 2. The Anti-Catholic Tradition; 3. The Discovery of Clergy Sex Abuse; 4. The Media and the Crisis; 5. Pedophilia and Child Abuse; 6. Conflict in the Churches; 7. Sins of the Fathers: The Feminist Response; 8. The Legal Environment; 9. Defending the Therapy; 10. Meanings and Directions