The Catholic Church is a long-standing religious institution that has made an extraordinary impact around the globe in areas such as science, philosophy and moral doctrine. With more than one billion followers worldwide, the Church has a massive impact on the actions and beliefs of an enormous group of people and has acted as a beacon of faith and compassion to many.

The history of the Catholic Church and its affiliation with sexual abuse is a long and complicated one. It was not until the 90’s that the issue first began receiving worldwide attention, and not until the historical Boston Globe reports in 2002 did the United States public become widely aware of these cases.

Beginning in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s, media coverage concerning cases of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has become widespread. The Catholic Church, in response to the allegations, attempted for decades to cover up the reported incidents; however, the allegations and convictions continued.

This year, the conversation has resurfaced in full force yet again after the release of an extensive news report detailing years of misconduct and cover-ups in Pennsylvania churches. Soon after, an archbishop accused Pope Francis of ignoring sexual misconduct warnings about former Cardinal McCarrick, who has since resigned from the College of Cardinals after allegations that McCarrick had sexually abused minors and adult seminarians for decades.

Many believe that the Catholic Church, with its long history of dealing with such allegations internally, has not yet taken enough action against the priests and church members who have been accused of child abuse and protecting others who are known to have committed abuse. Others think that the cases, which are for the most part decades old, are not current enough to take any effective action against.

The public now continues to question Pope Francis’ affiliation with the sex abuse scandals, causing mass divisions within the Church and a crisis on two fronts: sexual abuse and a diminishing trust in its leadership. With no simple end to this situation in sight, the Catholic Church must take extensive action in the future to gain the trust of its followers and return to its previous state of order.