The Church attempted to destroy all Cathar documents, and until recently, our knowledge of their doctrine and rites was confined largely to the accusations of the Church: thus, like the early Christians, they were accused of sexual licence (though in fact they were extremely ascetic) and of sodomy and other crimes. Recently, a number of genuine Cathar documents have been found and a certain amount of research has been done, and the real nature of their creed is becoming clearer .