Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic ScandalPope Benedict XVI's resignation shocked the world. Why would he give up such power when he answered to no one? For over 600 years, popes have died in office despite in many cases major challenges and disabling ailments. The answer, I believe, lies in this outstanding and often moving book by Michael D'Antonio, a first rate Pulitzer Prize winning reporter.As the worldwide media coverage suggested, the Pope's quarter century of failures to curtail effectively the worldwide cancer of priest rape and other sexual abuse of children finally overwhelmed him. The Pope apparently realized the rule of law was relentlessly closing in on the Vatican.But priest sexual abuse of children has occurred for centuries. Why now? This book makes clear why now. The book describes in informative and readable detail the quarter century of increasing efforts of courageous U.S abuse survivors, as well as their persistent lawyers who assumed on a contingent fee basis the major financial risk of taking on the world's oldest and largest institution, the Catholic Church. It also describes the remarkable efforts, ironically if not providentially, of a priest and former priests who helped them get some justice. The scale of the priest child abuse has been staggering. By Vatican reporting, over 100,000 American children have been sexually abused by priests. Over $3 billion of Church donations has been spent in the U.S. alone so far on the clerics' "mortal sins".Until publication of this book, the Catholic Church and its well funded media machine had too often controlled the priest child abuse narrative, despite the significant efforts of a few journalists who reported occasionally on particular events. Not any more. This book is a comprehensive account, at times gripping and dramatic, and always interesting, of the key legal cases and the parties involved--the "good, the bad and the ugly". Now the survivors, the perpetrators and their advocates are shown in readable detail as "real people". Now the 100,000 children have a "face" and the expenditure of $3 billion has an explanation!As someone with 16 years of Catholic education, for too long I didn't want to know all this. But as a grandparent and retired lawyer, I knew I had to know, if only to try to curtail it. I have now read many fine books on the priest sex abuse scandal and communicated with some victims. If you only read one book on the subject, I recommend this comprehensive and insightful one. The author, at times in an almost novelistic fashion, has described vividly, understandably and accurately what happened and who did what when. At times, it is hard to put the book down.Surprisingly, it is also in the end a hopeful book. It reports how everyday people and individual lawyers took on a huge institution and their fierce and well funded legal army, and won in court. The permanent harm of the abuse remained, of course, but obtaining some justice allieviated some of the pain for some survivors.The book covers an ongoing story. Several of the survivors have continued their efforts, even overseas, including as far away as Australia, where a massive royal investigation commission into institutional child abuse is now underway. The book suggests to me that more than private civil lawsuits are needed, as the Australian commission is already effectively proving. This also raises for me the obvious question of when President Obama will step up with a similar commission to protect American children.No U.S. Bishop has yet been tried and imprisoned for covering-up for predatory priests, as many of them apparently have. Criminal laws cannot serve to deter predators and their facilitators, if opportunistic prosecutors and politicians fail to apply the laws.Overall, "Mortal Sins" has reported very well and extremely competently on a major continuing epidemic infecting the most vulnerable, children. It has helped me understand better why the Pope resigned. It also indicates why his seemingly well intentioned successor, Pope Francis, with an undistinquished record on dealing with priest child abusers in Argentina, will be unlikely to curtail priest child sexual abuse, unless the Catholic leadership is really pressured by government investigators and prosecutors to do so.