The Church and Child Sexual Abuse: Towards a Pastoral Response

The horror of child sexual abuse by priests and religious has provoked a storm of reaction over the last few years. The official church response has been widely criticized as being self-serving and legalistic, and at least some elements of the media have left themselves open to accusations of sensationalizing and of scapegoating. The book seeks to clarify many of the distortions of fact that have arisen, to offer some insights into the nature of the problem, its causes and its treatments, and to review what the Christian response to this problem ideally might be in the light of gospel values. ""An important contribution marked by sensitivity to the issues and responsible research and most of all by a welcome degree of openness.""-- Doctrine & Life. ""A very helpful contribution to the Church's understanding of sexual abuse and its potential to contribute to healing the wounds.""--Catholic Times.