At the end of 1994, the Father Brendan Smyth affair brought shame on the Catholic Church in Ireland, and led directly to the fall of the Labour-Fianna Fail Government led by Albert Reynolds. The Irish public grew used to the face of the paedophile priest who was sentenced in Belfast on several counts of sexual abuse of children. This book is the inside story of the Brendan Smyth affair, written by the person most responsible for breaking the story. It follows the trail of the paedophile priest throughout Ireland, in Italy and in America. It reveals new information about the extent of the abuses carried out by Brendan Smyth, and the depth of the lack of intervention by the Catholic Church. Most of all, this book gives voice to those who were abused and betrayed by a priest and by the religious leaders who shielded him. The affair has caused a crisis of credibility for the Catholic Church in Ireland. It has damaged relationships between priests and people. This book evalutes the mishandling of the affair by the hierarchy, and explores how trust can be restored.