Presenting a fresh look at the contemporary issue of women's place in the Catholic church, Tina Beattie explores controversial, yet topical subjects, such as sex and homosexuality in the Church; women's rights in Catholicism and the future of the Church. Setting up a dramatic encounter between the orthodox Catholic establishment and contemporary critical theory, including feminist theology and philosophy, queer theory, and French psycholinguistics, Tina Beattie examines fundamental questions about human identity, personhood and gender. From the naked bodies of Eden to the 'gay nuptials' of liturgy, she argues that the strange and volatile world of Catholic sexual symbolism cannot be 'tamed' to meet the ideological agendas of either feminist theology or conservative Catholicism. Only through a radical re-evaluation of the sacramental significance of the sexed human body might the Catholic Church provide a redemptive response to the sexual politics of contemporary society.