Scandals, internal power struggles, whistleblowers, and the challenge of a quickly changing world. This book helps readers understand one of the most tormented periods of transition in the history of the Catholic Church. Benedict XVI's epochal decision to resign as pope not only ended his pontificate, but has revealed a new identity crisis within the Catholic Church—the paragon of virtue—forcing it into the awkward position of having to explain and to confess its own "sins" and convince the public that it is reforming and will change its behavior. The church is perceived by adversaries as the "second Kremlin," doomed to the same ruin that marked the fall of the Soviet empire. Massimo Franco analyzes the deep-seated causes and implications of the Catholic Church's disintegration.