During a family wedding celebration, Fr. Bill Donahough finds himself privy to his young sister's trauma. He arranges an abortion. What follows is the tidal wave effect upon his own life and those who are close to him-his siblings, his fellow priests, the Church hierarchy, and the secretive Catholic lay apostolate known as Opus Dei. During that celebration week on a Florida beach, Bill meets the lovely and brilliant Kathleen Pilgrin. Their lives begin to intertwine, initially bound together only by a thread of common interest in the pedophile scandal rocking the Church imperceptibly, those binding ties intensify as Bill fights an attraction that seems beyond his control. Rebellion is the story of a modern-day priest who learns that personal meaning in life cannot be found through identification with a flawed institution, but rather is mined through an inner search of person. He finds a redeeming and freeing power of love as he deals with his own crisis conscience and his personal search for God.