Chinnici analyzes the church's relationship to our times and culture, theways in which it has sometimes adopted the least healthy aspects of that culture, and the way in which power was abused to shore up a prestige that had little to do with the essence of Christianity. In St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. chinnici finds a path to a more humble spirit of non-acquisitive ownership, true evangelical freedom, and a transparency that alone can overcome the scandal that the sexual abuse of children has caused.