This chapter examines the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and the institution’s role in enabling sexual depravity. The scale of clerical abuse is such that comprehensive coverage is impossible; we have selected a number of British, Irish and US examples for detailed description, with only passing references to other countries. For comparative purposes, we also discuss similar scandals in the Church of England. This chapter also emphasises the gender dimension of the cases under scrutiny. In the period 2003–2018, the Ecclesiastical Insurance Office managed 216 cases of child sex abuse. Of those only two involved female perpetrators: 99 per cent of child abusers were male. The conclusion is that, while the Catholic Church is not unique in the sexual deviance of its officials, it has a number of characteristics that collectively contribute to the problem of clerical abuse. The Catholic Church created and sustained a destructive puritanism that was so negative towards sexuality that it hardly distinguished between consensual sex and rape. It promoted a misogyny that exalted women in the abstract (provided they became mothers) while in practise treating them badly. By according the clergy supernatural powers, it elevated them above criticism. By making them celibate it created, for some, an impossible combination of desire and self-loathing. It created a series of social institutions which encouraged brutality and vice. Its self-image as uniquely pleasing to God allowed disdain for the secular law and for common decency; both were subordinated to preserving the Church’s reputation.