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This book shows how Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI mandated inconsistent policies on clerical sexual abuse. It examines the possibility of change by articulating the positive outreach of Pope Francis to the victims of abuse and his implementation of systematic actions for young people´s protection.

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This book shows how Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI mandated many confused, inconsistent, and misguided policies on clerical sexual abuse; actions that ultimately hindered the implementation of effective reforms to alleviate the crisis that has enveloped the Catholic Church for the last two decades. It also examines the possibility of authentic change by articulating the positive outreach of Pope Francis to the victims of abuse, his attempts at institutional atonement, as well as his struggles to implement systematic actions for the protection of young people.

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Introduction: God Weeps - The Beginnings - Pope John Paul II: The Flummoxed - Pope Benedict XVI: The Rigid - Pope Francis: The Inconsistent- God Still Weeps - Bibliography - Index.

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Jo Renee Formicola is Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Seton Hall University, USA. She has published four books along with six other co-authored and edited volumes and numerous journal articles.

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