With the seat of the Catholic Church in its backyard and the highest number of priests of any country, Italy is a bastion of global Catholicism. And yet, unlike many other countries, it has failed to tackle the scourge of clerical sex abuse. It keeps no official statistics on the issue, and the number of convictions remains shockingly low. Survivors of abuse have fallen foul of a combination of cover-up, complicity, and legal failings in their search for justice. Mark Lowen speaks to survivors, confronts those accused, and meets the officials working to uncover the dark secrets that the Italian authorities have been unwilling to investigate.