The Priest Sex Abuse Crisis the Voice of the Faithful and the Process of Collective Identity. In 2002, the national spotlight fell on Bostons archdiocese, where decades of rampant sexual misconduct from priestsand the churchs systematic coverupswere exposed by the reporters from the Boston Globe. The sordid and tragic stories of abuse and secrecy led many to leave the church outright, and others to rekindle their faith and deny any suggestions of institutional wrongdoing. But a number of Catholics vowed to find a middle ground between these two extremes keeping their faith while simultaneously working to change the church for the