COMPASS THE ABUSE OF MINORS A Cinema Resource

PETER MALONE MSC

N TERMS OF of the quality of life, one of some extent, reversed more recently. In fact, the greatest threats is abuse of the young. worldwide, secular and church authorities are INot only has it been a horrendous still trying to grapple with psychological revelation in recent times that adults at home, understanding of the mind and emotions of in institutions and in organised rings have an abuser. been physically and sexually assaulting While many dioceses and religious orders, children, but that members of churches and especially in English-speaking countries, have an alarmingly high number of clergy and taken some very serious steps to do the right members of religious congregations have been thing for victims and to deal honestly and accused of this kind of activity and have been justly with the perpetrators, the American found guilty in courts and have been jailed. experience of 2002, which led to so many This survey of films will confine itself to victims making accusations with consequent sexual molestation and abuse of minors, financial compensatory claims that have specifically young boys and adolescents, with bankrupted several dioceses, has continued reference to the church and secular cases. to impact on so many dimensions of church Until the 1980s, most people did not think life: the role of the priest, the psychological of going to the police to press criminal charges. and emotional health and maturity of men and There were very few precedents. We have women in responsible ecclesiastical roles, the come to learn that concerned parents did go erosion of trust among the faithful, the to ecclesiastical authorities but that there was enormous anger and resentment, the long-term a lack of awareness about how serious the ill-effects of abuse of the victims. matters really were, that there were few The government investigation in Ireland protocols to guide church leaders on how to over almost a decade, government enquiries deal with clergy misconduct of this nature, that and the Royal Commission in Australia, mean there was an immediate concern for the welfare that the issues are continually before the public of the accused rather than concern and and will continue to be for some years to come. compassion for the complainants and a belated There have been a number of movies switch to language of victims and dramatising this theme. It is 25 years since a perpetrators. The behaviour was secret, television film about the first reported case of hidden, smoothed over with lying deceptions abuse of a boy in Louisiana in the mid-1980s, by perpetrators, the exercise of emotional Judgment, was screened. blackmail and the reinforcing of guilt feelings This article considers the five periods of in the victims. While errant clergy were moved five years over that quarter of a century, to from place to place to avoid scandal without highlight what was emerging in the public much realisation that they would offend again, arena during those years and indicate some of or were sent to institutes for therapy, there the issues in the films which were made and was little help, counselling or compensation released at that time. Cinema is a mirror of for the victims, something which has been, to society rather than a shaper of society. A film

22 THE ABUSE OF MINORS: A CINEMA RESOURCE can be in pre-production, production and Peter Malone MSC, post-production for several years, so there is former lecturer at the no instant reflection, as is possible in the print Yarra Theological Union, media, radio and television. Nevertheless, in edited Compass, 1972- these days when films are seen on television, 1998. He headed OCIC can be rented or downloaded, and are and SIGNIS, the Catholic continually repeated, it means that the films Church’s international can make some contribution to awareness of organisations for Media, sexual abuse. 1999-2005. He recently published An Ever Widening Screen, a 1990-1995 Memoir (Connor Court, Ballarat).

Background response of the Bishop and his Vicar General, News of the sexual abuse of minors by focusing on juridical issues before pastoral clergy was not prominent at the beginning of issues towards the victim and his family. the 1990s. During this period, however, more Soon after, 1992, the Canadian production, and more cases were revealed, especially in The Boys of St Vincent, dramatized the true English-language countries, Canada, the story of an orphanage with some of the United Kingdom, Australia. It was also at this Brothers on the staff abusing their charges. period, that the first case of a priest in Australia As with Judgment, this was new on television sentenced to prison was publicised. screens, a certain amount of disbelief that Church officials responded with plans for such events could take place—only to be the writing of a document, with protocols, verified on a much more global scale a few as well as pastoral exhortations for the years later. The impact of the film in Canada, clergy. In 1994, Catholics in Europe with Canadians looking at their own scandal, commented adversely on sexual abuse of led to a sequel in 1993, The Boys of St Vincent, minors as a phenomenon of the English- 15 Years Later, which focused on the court speaking church, something that would not cases against the staff and the traumatic happen in Europe. effect abuse had had on the boys as they grow into adults. The films A secular-themed television film worth noting is Bump in the Night, 1991, a story of a As mentioned already, Judgment, a film for mother searching for her very little son who television was screened in 1990. It was had been abducted. But the portrait of the concerned with the first reported case of abuse abductor, a University literature professor, of a boy by a priest in Louisiana in the 1980s. played by Christopher Reeve, enables the David Strathairn played the priest in question. audience to understand something of the For audiences at the time, it was a strong and mentality of the paedophile, an adult man who surprising drama, material that they were not seems to be comfortable only in the company used to seeing. David Strathairn's performance of a child, taking him to the zoo, talking to him is well worth seeing as he embodies a range of at his level, showing the emotional retardation emotions of a lonely priest, a predatory priest, of this kind of molester, playing with him as if an exposed priest. Judgment anticipated the he was a young boy himself, his appreciation huge outcry about church procedures in the of himself as being tender and loving to the United States in 2002. It also shows the boy. Later films will explore this mentality of

23 COMPASS the paedophile. Towards Healing. It was striking at the time. There are also two different films from this The Archdiocese of Melbourne, with period. Lawnmower Man based on a Stephen Archbishop Pell, decided to have its own King story, 1992, shows a physically abusive protocols, The Melbourne Response, also priest whose sadistic behaviour and beatings promulgated late in 1996. leads to his being violently killed by the victim, While Towards Healing was a a simple gardener, whose name is significantly, breakthrough at the time, it can be seen in Jobe. He lives behind the church, tends the retrospect that many of those applying it had grounds, talks to the crucifix as he cleans the limited awareness, were prone to be concerned church. The abuse theme is not to the fore but about the clergy, financial responsibilities and it is presented quite powerfully. payments, more than concern about the Justice and scandals were beginning to victims. With the Australian Royal emerge, when the thriller, Primal Fear, was Commission, the criticisms and limitations of released in 1995. It is basically a courtroom Towards Healing have been aired in drama and murder mystery. It uses a church considerable detail—perhaps obscuring scandal as a basis for the plot. An Archbishop stories which show the benefit of those who in Chicago, is savagely murdered. It emerges followed through with greater sensitivity. that he had hired adolescents to perform sexual In 1995-1996, the auxiliary Bishop of acts in front of a video camera. The killing is Canberra-Goulburn, Patrick Power, concerned vengeful, retaliation for the humiliation and about the issues with interest in the institutes shame. This was quite shocking, the episcopal in the United States for therapy for priest- behaviour as well as the visualising of the offenders, went to St Luke's, Maryland, and performances. For a mainstream film, starring participated in the three-month course to Richard Gere, It seemed to give permission for understand and appreciate what it was trying more explicit films to come. to do. The Australian Church set up A film about the relationship of an adult Encompass. male with a young child, not explicitly sexual, but intimating the possibility, was Man The films Without a Face, 1993, a film directed by Mel The 1996 release of an Italian film, Pianese Gibson who played the central character. At Nunzio, 14 a Maggio/ Pianese Nunzio, 14 in its release, it seemed to present intimations of May, was more than surprising to an English- the sinister. language audience. From the point of view of For a comparison with the abuse of a pre- the film, Italians viewed paedophilia not nearly adolescent daughter by her father, and the as stringently as those in English-speaking consequences for the daughter and the countries. The principal character is a mother, one of the best Stephen King crusading priest in Naples, a champion of the adaptations, Dolores Claiborne, moved the poor. He is confronted by criminal elements in general audience with horror at abuse in a non- the city as he fights for justice. In his personal religious context. life he is in a relationship with a 13-year-old boy. This relationship seems to be presented, 1996-2000 if not favourably, at least without any explicit condemnation. But his enemies use the relationship to destroy him. Background With many scandals are yet to come to light In 1996, the Australian church, dioceses in some countries in Asia and Africa, it was and religious congregations, published surprising to see in 1999, an Indian film, Split

24 THE ABUSE OF MINORS: A CINEMA RESOURCE

Wide Open, about changes in lifestyle in the later 1980s. The McMartin family owns a Mumbai through the influence of media pre-school, finds itself arrested and charged talkback shows from the West opening up with a range of offences, many of which are Indian society to sex topics more explicitly. bizarre. Three generations of women go to jail, Yet also included was a sub-plot where a but the main suspicion is on the son, a dropout religious brother is presented sympathetically, who is good-natured but his track record of praised for his work with street kids and social unreliability does his credibility a great deal of justice issues in the slums. He also has an damage. The case went on for seven years, intimate relationship with a young boy. Split attracting huge media attention (and blame) White Open indicates how much could emerge until all the members of the family were from Asian countries. Already in the late 1980s, acquitted. the Philippines most prominent director, Lino Indictment sets its scene particularly well Brocka, and his associates made quite a and shows that it is possible to have number of films during the 1990s about the widespread abuse in the teaching situation. exploitation of boys and young men (including However, the film also highlights difficulties by military and naval personnel from the former about memory and suggestion. The film shows US base at Subic Bay) the macho dancers, the how the whole case was initiated by a prostitutes, many of whom are trying to raise psychologically disturbed mother with family money for their impoverished families. problems. The fears of abuse snowballed with Brocka's most notable film was Macho Dancer, parents up in arms and children making all 1989. kinds of accusations, many of them A comparison of how an American films outlandish. A lynching atmosphere treated this kind of infatuation and developed. The experts who worked with the relationship, again in the secular setting, is children are ultimately shown to have had very seen in Happiness, 1999. Among a range of limited training, used dubious methods to elicit sexual issues was the attraction of a father to information from the children and worked on the schoolboy friends of his 11-year-old son. the presumption of guilt on the part of the Dylan Baker's performance portrayed the McMartins. The children, whose interviews torment of this man, the tactics and were taped but not used in their entirety by rationalisations he used and the shame of his the prosecuting team because of lack of time, exposure. This character appears in a sequel, tell more and more preposterous stories. Life During Wartime (2009), this time played Indictment is a cautionary story by Ciaran Hinds. concerning uncovering repressed memories, The principal American film this period was not often the subject of films, and concerning Sleepers, 1996, including a priest character. children's being susceptible to suggestion. However, the basic story is secular. A group of young boys in a juvenile institution were 2001-2005 assaulted by one of the supervisors. As adults, they combine to get their revenge by taking him to court, even persuading their Background priest friend from the neighbourhood, Robert De Niro, to perjure himself during the trial This was the time when sexual abuse cases although what he said was the moral truth. were frequently in the headlines, the Catholic An important film for television, Church beginning to accept that this was a Indictment: The McMartin Trial, 1996, raised reality of the Church's life and that it had to be the issue about memories and false memories, faced, an examination of conscience. based on actual events in California during This came to a head in 2002 when, after the

25 COMPASS focus on prominent cases in the Archdiocese priest in charge and staffed by brothers. The of Boston, the American church had its 'annus brother-prefect is a stern disciplinarian who horribilis'. Many victims of abuse and resorts to excessive physical punishment and molestation made themselves known to humiliation of the boys. One brother is a sexual authorities. It was a harrowing year for these abuser. There is only one sequence of such victims with their memories and hurts and for abuse, visually reticent, but all the more their families. It was also a harrowing year for horrendous because of this. It is a reminder of many an authority in the Church, from bishops the pathology of the brother and, particularly, to diocesan directors of communication who the pain of the reluctant victim who speaks of had to find ways of responding to media this in the confessional and is advised to keep demands while always offering compassion what has happened to himself. to those who suffered. It was a year of Song for a Raggy Boy, like other Irish films apologies. It was a year of judicial proceedings and their presentation of dominant clergy raise and attempts to formulate appropriate pertinent questions about the severity of the protocols in the American church. The bishops Irish Church, and the collaboration with the had to face up to the realities and the need for state in running institutions and using the investigation, making the decision that there same methods of discipline and punishment would be 'zero tolerance'. In 2003 there was a prevalent in those times in state and other meeting, in the Vatican, of the American institutions. The film is also a reminder that cardinals. religious men and seminarians who entered in In Australia, there was an accusation made their mid-teens and underwent severe against Cardinal Pell and he showed bishops formation, absorbed it and saw it as the pattern what should be done if they were the subject for their ministry, applying it sometimes in of complaint. He stood down until the case unconscious compensation for their lack of was resolved and he was able to resume his emotional development. Two films about duties. A number of American bishops did not abuse of young women in Irish work follow this example. institutions in the 1960s were The Magdalene With the death of John Paul II in 2005, there Sisters and Sinners (both 2002). was some consideration of how Cardinal Meanwhile in Spain, Pedro Almodovar, the Ratzinger handled cases at the Congregation country's leading director, often provocative of the Doctrine of the Faith, and what he would in his attitude towards the Catholic Church do about the abuse scandals as Benedict XVI. (critical of Opus Dei in his film, Matador). When Almodovar announced production of The films Mal Educacion/Bad Education, there were immediate claims that the film would be anti- This was the period in which quite a clerical. it would be a film about his own number of significant films were released, films experiences of Catholic education in the focusing on the sexual abuse of minors, schools of the 1960s. However, Almodovar especially young boys. disclaimed the anti-clerical charge., saying that Many of the scandals in Ireland had been. had he made the film 20 years earlier, it would Song for a Raggy Boy (2003) was significant, have been quite anti-clerical. He said that he based on a novel by Patrick Galvin who spoke had mellowed and that, although he does not about the effect of writing the book and of have what he calls the 'luxury of believing in collaborating on the film as an 'exorcism' of God', he values much of what he experienced the past for himself. The film is set in 1939 in a in the church (especially liturgies, celebrations school reformatory for boys, some younger and art). He also said that the priests at school than 12, managed by the local bishop with a said that watching films was a sin so he had to

26 THE ABUSE OF MINORS: A CINEMA RESOURCE choose sin. These themes are incorporated into Our Fathers shows the victims of abuse in Bad Education. their adult years and the damage that they still While the abuse issue is important, the bear, ranging from low self-esteem and marital director spends more time showing the difficulties, even to suicide. It uses discreetly emotional behaviour of the abusing priest, his filmed flashbacks (with the emphasis on verbal obsession and emotional immaturity, and puts communication rather than visuals of the more blame on how the priest handles the molestations) to bring home the reality of the situation and jealously exploits his authority abuse within the context of family life, school, and power within the school. Later we see the church and the plausible pretexts that the priest in real life, having left the priesthood clergy used to deceive parents and rationalize and married, but still a sexual predator. their behaviour with the children. As with other directors from continental The film, which starts with Fr Geoghan's Europe, Almodovar shows some compassion ordination and the bishop asking the seminary for the emotions of the perpetrators. He rector whether this candidate was worthy, also creates a powerful scene where the priest rector fills in aspects of the accused priests' lives of the school sits in rapt attention at the and behaviour. Opinions of fellow priests are community table while the ten year old boy indicated and their wariness. In dramatic terms, with whom he is infatuated sings a song for one of the most moving sequences has an his birthday. While his sympathies are with adult character remember his experiences with the victims, he also raises questions about Fr Birmingham and then reveal to his fellow- adolescent attitudes to sexuality, especially in victims that he had visited the priest as he the context of Catholic upbringing, Church was dying in hospital thirteen years earlier to teaching and a sense of sin. Audiences will find some kind of forgiveness for his hatred of have a great deal to think about concerning him. the characters, about what is real, about what Many critics blame lawyers for inflating is memory, about sexual orientation, about the cases for the sake of greater financial sexual intimacy, about childhood experiences compensation. This theme is tackled well in and their effect on adult development or the the film. Ted Danson portrays Mitchell impeding of development, about moral choices Garebandian, the lawyer who found himself in and about God and religion. deeper waters than he anticipated and pursued By 2005, a film had been made about several Fr Geoghan. He is portrayed warts and all, his cases in Boston, Our Fathers, first screened callow attitudes as well as his more personal on the US cable channel, Showtime, in May involvement in the cases, his temptations to 2005. celebrity as well as his decent behaviour. The Our Fathers was based on a book, Our screenplay traces the steps he took to find Fathers: the Secret Life of the Catholic evidence and documentation concerning the Church in an Age of Scandal, by David France priests, letters written by complaining who had covered the story when a senior parishioners, a formal report from the 1980s editor at Newsweek. It is a dramatised commissioned by the church, which were not interpretation of the year in Boston which made available by Church authorities until a began with the Father Geoghegan trial, judge compelled them to. The decisions of The continued with other priests being accused Boston Globe to pursue the issues and the and ended with the resignation of Cardinal people are also dramatized. Bernard Law. The film is generally carefully Christopher Plummer appears as Cardinal written, giving voice to a range of perspectives. Law. He interprets the Cardinal in a complex The legal aspects of the case are frequently way. He is a churchman of the old school who centre-screened. sees it as his duty to protect the church and

27 COMPASS its reputation. He is a prelate who comes to restricted to verbal frankness—which is often realise that he has made grave mistakes in much easier to absorb than visual explicitness. judgment—the scene where he speaks of his The film focuses on two very different mistakes to Pope John Paul II has moving boys. Neil (Joseph Gordon Levitt) is a young moments and takes us into the mind and heart hustler. Brian (Brady Corbett) is an introverted of the Cardinal. The other sequences which young man who has no memory of being repay viewing to try to understand how the abused, no idea that he has been abused. He Cardinal saw his role include a visit of one of has so successfully created a psychological the victims (who has been ignored and put off block that, when he sees a television program even when the Cardinal had said he would about UFOs, he begins to think that the missing meet victims) confronts him in his residence hours of his life, that he has no way of and forces the Cardinal to listen and empathise accounting for, were caused by his being as well as persuading him to attend a meeting abducted by aliens. By the end of the film, of victims and families where he has a tough when the two adolescents come together, they reception. go to the house where the abuse happened A sub-plot concerning a sometimes and the hustler explains to the innocent boy disgruntled priest, Fr Dominic Spagnolia (Brian what actually took place. This is a harrowing Dennehy in a no-holds-barred performance) experience as the young man realises what has who speaks in his pulpit against Cardinal Law happened to him, the memories come back. and demonstrates against him sometimes This is the moment when the film ends, leaving distracts from the main thrust of the film. the future for the two boys and a sense of Towards the end of the film, however, it wonder and anticipation as well as alarm for becomes very serious as this priest has to face the audience. his own demons as well as allegations. The film is disturbing almost from its The end of 2015 will see a strong film, beginning. The initial focus is on Neil, speaking Spotlight, about the Boston Globe's pursuit in voiceover and commenting on his attraction of these issues and the clergy. for the baseball coach and hinting at the Probably the best film so far to understand implications of this. However, it is the pre- the psyche of the abuser is Gregg Araki's pubescent Neil who is speaking in this way. Mysterious Skin (2004). He has adapted a And this is already shocking in its way. novel by Scott Heim. The novel came out in However, Araki is suggesting that for some 1995 when charges were beginning to surface youngsters, their sexual focus emerges at a more widely in various organisations, secular young age. This does not necessarily lead to and religious. This film focuses on two families. abuse but that in this period, where so much The paedophile is the little league baseball attention has to be on victims, there may be coach. The setting is the late 1980s, early 1990s. some deep level response to the sexuality but At this time, Mysterious Skin, proved not to elicit abuse. This is an area that has not helpful to many Christian audiences who found received a great deal of attention. In this it difficult to understand how abuse could have screenplay, it emerges that Neil has been happened within the church by showing abuse complicit in the sexual behaviour. He has also in a secular context, the world of the family been seduced into being an ally of the abuser and the sport's coach. in his activities with other boys. This The film is strong in its portrayal of sexual compounds the evil compulsions of the abuse. However, Araki keeps a balance perpetrator, the abuse of a child and the between being prurient and showing the contamination of another child into being an dramatic and dire impact of sexual abuse. The abuser. film is visually reticent, the directness being Neil talks about his orientation. He

28 THE ABUSE OF MINORS: A CINEMA RESOURCE indicates what happened during his visits to Broken Rights, already established in the coach's house. Much of this is visualised Australia, began to include very detailed in the early part of the film—the more seductive histories of particular cases and of particular aspects rather than sexual activity. While the perpetrators. audience tries to grapple with understanding the mentality of the young boy, the screenplay The films portrays the coach as a complex naïve but In 2006, a major documentary about abuse knowing seducer, who uses the language of in the United States was nominated for an games and seeming innocence, who is really Academy Award. It was called Deliver us from an emotionally and morally immature boy. It is Evil. This is a meticulously made documentary on this basis that the abusive sexual by a director, Amy Berg, who is not a Christian compulsions build up. Alarm and disgust at and is looking at the issues from outside the the paedophiles has obscured the need for Church. She sought advice and legal counsel trying to understand the mentality of the about the truth of the claims made in the film. emotionally stunted abusers, their attractions The focus of the film is Fr Oliver O'Grady, and their exploitations. an Irishman who worked in Northern California, Other films from this period which are also from the 1960s to the 1980s. The film has helpful in dramatising abuse, some within the significant ramifications for the Church today family, include The Butterfly Effect, as, prior to his appointment to be archbishop Chromophobia, and the documentary of Los Angeles in 1985, Cardinal Roger Capturing the Friedmans where, in a family Mahoney was auxiliary bishop in Fresno (1975- who make it a practice of filming everything, 1980), bishop of Stockton (1980-1985). two brothers are accused of abuse. Oliver O'Grady emerges from the film as, at least, self-delusional. On the one hand, he 2006-2010 admits what he has done. On the other, he cheerfully excuses himself and compartmentalises his behaviour. As a portrait Background of a priest offending over decades, the film With 2001-2005, as the main period when offers an alarming portrait. In September 2005, clerical sexual abuse issues were in the public the BBC's Panorama program featured Oliver media, and surfacing in many countries, O'Grady. The film-maker, himself a victim of especially the United States in 2002, this is a abuse in Ferns, Ireland, asked O' Grady to time when it was generally taken for granted indicate how he 'groomed' a young girl for that there had been many abusers and that abuse. He cheerfully did so, straight to camera, they would have to be more investigations in an astonishing performance (and the BBC, to dioceses and religious orders. There were its discredit, featured this sequence in the crises moments, for example, prior to World promotion of the broadcast as well as Youth Day in Sydney in 2008, Cardinal Pell including it at the head of the program as well had to face some very public complaints, not as during it). Fr O'Grady's behaviour and very compassionately as reports later revealed. comments as late as 2006 were bizarre and By contrast, Pope Benedict XVI in the United reprehensible. States and in Sydney, had meetings with the Deliver us from Evil works dramatically and victims of abuse to listen to them and offer powerfully. The range of interviews with some church attentiveness to their victims and their parents are placed experiences. throughout the film. They have been It is also at this time that the website, judiciously selected so that the audience

29 COMPASS shares the experience of the families, the initial and the chapel do not have any Catholic welcome to Fr O'Grady as he took a pastoral pictures, statues or iconic props and the final interest in them and became firm friends, being credits indicate that there was some strong invited to meals and becoming part of the Lutheran input into the making of the film. Be family. Families did not realise what was that as it may, it is still a relevant story, with happening to their children. Such behaviour violent implications which makes one realise on the part of a priest was unthinkable to most. that such vengeance against a priest abuser As the truth emerged and Fr O'Grady went has not been the order of the day. to different parishes in Northern California, the A young priest, Fr Andre (Isaiah families were surprised, dismayed and shocked. Washington) who had been a student at the Along with the chronicle of the history of Fr school, comes back to join the staff after being O'Grady's activities are the testimonies of absent from the diocese (Colorado) for two Cardinal Mahoney and different church years. His predecessor has disappeared. Andre officials from Stockton diocese. Since the is welcomed by the priest rector of the school, United States uses videocameras for is treated warily by the disciplinarian and in a depositions, the film incorporates footage of friendly way by the other priest on the staff. the actual questions and answers. The boys are another matter, typical of This is where there can be some boarders at any school, nominally religious controversy. The director has selected but mainly not, while conforming to the rules particular sections—and they sound to the of the school. Andre manages to settle in, detriment of the churchmen. The cross- dealing with the priests, trying to assess and examination reminds the audience that relate to the boys, puzzling about the bishops were not so well informed about the disappearance of Fr Collins. A rich boy, a nature of abuse, especially its criminality, and sports champion is quite hostile, especially made decisions to move priests around— when Fr Andre, who teaches religion and has which resulted in further abuse. On the one a great belief in prayer, asks the boys to hand, one can argue that in retrospect, bishops compose their own and he parodies the Lord's made poor decisions which resulted in some Prayer. There is another reclusive boy who disastrous behaviour. On the other, we have spends a lot of time in the chapel and is wary more clarity now than then and it is easy to be of talking. judgmental in looking back. However, what is We soon realise that he is one student who important is what has to be done now in terms has been abused. Some of the boys search of truth, justice and reparation. sealed off basement offices and it soon One more alarming aspect of the film is the emerges that Fr Collins has been killed and featuring of Fr Tom Doyle who, since the 1980s the quiet boy is under suspicion. The media, and his working in Washington DC and needless to say, make a great deal out of the becoming involved in Bishops Conference case, filming Fr Andre trying to put them off, decisions, has been something of a then raising accusing suspicions about his whistleblower and a friend of victims. He makes behaviour. The audience shares in a number some very strong and critical statements of discussions amongst the priests and how during the film which also need examination the situation should be handled. and attention. The plot here has a few unexpected twists There were far fewer fictional films during which makes the abuse by Fr Collins more this time. harrowing, his murder comprehensible and the The Least of These, 2008, seems to be set cover-up alarming. Fr Andre's life is also more in a Catholic school and viewers have complicated - he had been a whistleblower on interpreted it that way. However, the school a former case, with a close friend suspended

30 THE ABUSE OF MINORS: A CINEMA RESOURCE and hounded, only to discover that the whole they liked it or not. A pervading Gospel spirit affair had been fabricated by a child and of charity and service pervaded the Church parents. This sub-plot offers a sobering but it was often exercised in a way that seemed reminder of different scenarios in different harsh and demanding, especially by those who cases. saw their authority being backed by a 'grace Doubt, 2008, is a film of strong Catholic of state'. Many of those who left the Church interest. in this era have offered many anecdotes of the It can be viewed in the light of the Church treatment they received from priests and nuns experience of sexual abuse by clergy. However, as reasons for their departure, even of their this is not exactly the central issue of the film. loss of faith. Doubt is a film about Church structures, Sister Aloysius is a strong-minded superior hierarchy, the exercise of power and the of the strict, intervening school of religious primacy of discipline and order. life. She sees herself as an authority figure Set in the autumn of 1964 in the Bronx, New and what she says goes. This was the York, the film focuses on the suspicions of the spirituality of God's will spoken through the primary school principal, Sister Aloysius Superior—though, in retrospect, this often (Meryl Streep), that the local priest and chaplain seems more the whim of the superior. She to the school, Fr Flynn (Philip Seymour believes in discipline and she does not expect Hoffman), is taking an unhealthy interest in to be liked. She trusts her intuitions and one of the students, aged twelve. There are assumes that they are correct. But, the kind of some suggestions, several ambiguous clues, Church and religious life she has inherited about what might have happened but the mean that she is constantly on the alert, wants actual events remain unclear as the priest proper order everywhere and sees herself in defends himself against the nun's strong the chain of hierarchical authority that goes. intuition against him. She discusses the To this extent, the portrait of Sister Aloysius problem with the boy's mother. As the title of helps us understand authoritarian stances the film indicates, the drama leaves the truth taken by many bishops in the abuse cases. unclear because it is the stances of the two At the opening of the film, Fr Flynn gives a characters in conflict, especially the sermon on experiencing doubts. This cuts no determined nun and the truth struggle, the ice with Sister Aloysius. Fr Flynn is already power struggle, the conscience struggle, that on her hit list because of his friendliness is the point of the film. towards the children in the school. He coaches John Patrick Shanley has adapted and basketball. He talks with the children and opened out his Pulitzer-prize winning play for affirms them. This kind of pastoral outreach the screen and directed it himself. Shanley has was about to be encouraged by the Vatican indicated that he is not so much concerned Council's document on priesthood. with the issue of clerical abuse of children as The confrontations between Sister of pitting two characters against each other to Aloysius and Fr Flynn becomes quite highlight the uncertainties of certainty and the desperate for Fr Flynn when he realises that nature of doubt. The drama is all the more the nun is so certain and dominating and has powerful because of its naturalistic taken investigations into her own hands rather atmosphere, recreating the period and the life than respecting him as a person let alone a of the school, the convent and the rectory. priest. We see the conflict between the old As with most organisations by the authoritarian style and the new, more beginning of the 1960s, secular or religious, personable style of interactions. While the Catholic Church was hierarchically Shanley himself states that he has some structured. Everyone knew their place, whether sympathy for the old ways, rituals, silence and

31 COMPASS devotion, his drama clearly shows the private, some public, where victims of abuse inadequacy of the authoritarian hierarchical were able to tell their stories and some model of Church in dealing with human perpetrators and some authorities cross- relationships. examined in great detail. Doubt offers an opportunity to look at the two models of Church and to assess their The Films strengths and weaknesses, especially in the Once again, this is a period of light of subsequent events and the nature and documentaries, one in particular, really being life of the Church at the present day. required viewing: Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence Shanley's images of Sister Aloysius at the in the House of God, (2012). end indicates that he believes we should all It needs to be said that this is a very well- have doubts and not take the moral high made film. Audiences will not agree with all ground of untested certainties. the speakers or the expert 'talking heads'. After A film well worth seeing, secular and all, the film marshals facts but, as is any film, it concerning families and a teenage daughter, is an interpretation. The writer-director, Alex is Trust, 2010, to be seen especially by adults, Gibney, has very good credentials, winning and parents with their teenage children. It is a an Oscar for Best documentary for another strongly cautionary story about the Internet, investigation, this time torture in Afghanistan Internet communication and lies. In this case, and Iraq, Taxi to the Darkside. Expose is his the 15 year old daughter of a couple makes forte. contact with someone who says that he is a As with any successful film, the maker student, gradually reveals that he is older, and wants to draw the audience in. And that is makes an appointment to meet her which she what happens here. We are informed briefly eagerly goes to. He flatters her, buys her about the woeful abuse career of Milwaukee special underwear, and then takes her to a room priest, Lawrence Murphy. He is the offender and assaults her. Eventually, the criminal is for the first third of the film. But, the film is unmasked, a quiet man who lives with his victim-focused, all the more emotionally telling family but who has preyed on other girls. here because we see men in their fifties and The value of seeing the film in this context watch them tell their stories— 'watch' advisedly is that it dramatises how grooming works, because the men are deaf and sign their stories, especially online, in chatrooms. vividly and powerfully, while some articulate Hollywood actors speak their signed words. 2011-2015 Fr Lawrence Murphy, ordained in 1950, was a popular figure, fund raiser for the school for the deaf which he eventually ran for many Background years. The number of films dealing with clerical The stories of the men are told plainly, sexual abuse was comparatively small during factually, especially of their childhood and this period, although it was at this time that family backgrounds. Some parents could not some governments became involved, a nine- sign which put the boys at a great year enquiry and report into the church in disadvantage in letting their parents know Ireland, state commissions of investigation in about the molestation. The stories are also told Australia, leading to the establishment of a visually with many excerpts from home movies Rule Commission into Institutional Child of the period, of the boys and their life at the Sexual Abuse in non-governmental school and of Fr Murphy himself. Which institutions, and the many hearings, some in means greater repugnance from the audience.

32 THE ABUSE OF MINORS: A CINEMA RESOURCE

The complaints and testimony are clear, praised for recognizing and acknowledging the detailed and, though some at the time could problems and wanting the priests out of and not believe the boys or such stories about a away from ministry. priest, undeniable. We hear their response to The other sub-plot concerns the career of persistent abuse, some feelings of being money-raiser, founder of the Legionaries of singled out and special, their shock at Christ, confidante of Cardinals and Popes, who experiences in confession and in Fr Murphy's was a Jeckyll and Hyde perpetrator of sex room and holiday house. And their resigning crimes and injustices, Fr Maciel. His story, well- themselves to this fate. Evidence is shown that illustrated in terms of clerical patronage, is told official complaints about Fr Murphy were made in the context of John Paul II (who favoured to the Apostolic Delegate in 1974. him) and Benedict XVI (who ultimately That first section of the film was called dismissed him to a life of prayer and penance, 'Lambs of God'. The next section introduces though beachfront footage of Jacksonville, the veteran of studies of clerical celibacy, with Florida, is shown as his final home). interviews of priests over the decades, Richard From Wisconsin, the second third of the Sipe. A former Benedictine, Sipe has written film moves to Boston and the 2002 uncovering extensively. His introduction at this stage of of scandals, the arrests and gaoling of Frs the film enables him to offer something of the Geoghan and Shanley, the resignation of history of celibacy, deficiencies in formation Cardinal Law (with adverse comments on his of priests, the consequences of this as well as leadership on the issue in Boston) and his the loneliness in the celibate vocation. The comfortable career and life in Rome. selection of sequences with Sipe are We all need to be media savvy, knowing judiciously chosen and make a great deal of what we want to say and saying it, without sense (while not saying everything, as many ambiguity or leaving ourselves open to would point out). Other experts seen in the misinterpretation or ridicule. There is a terrible film include another former Benedictine, moment in an interview with Cardinal Patrick, who had a mission of moving around Desmond Connell of Dublin (who is later examining cases but who ultimately found it, shown as having made some effort, though and his perceptions of covering priests, too belatedly, in contacting Rome about cases). much and so left the priesthood. He is asked if it would have been good to have The passionate Fr Doyle, the American visited victims. He does admit it would, but, priest who has been constant in his work (and unfortunately, for himself and his reputation, now, perhaps, feeling justified in his he adds, even with traces of a smile, that he perseverance of cases and issues, especially does have many things to do. in the context of law and Canon Law) has a At different stages during the film, opinions great deal to say about cases, about the loyal are given as well as questions raised as to impulses of priests, bishops and devout laity how anyone could commit such crimes. Some who have felt that they must protect the technical language is used, quite enlightening church at all costs. and suggesting further reflection. 'Noble cause There are some interesting sub-plots, so corruption' is one contribution, the to speak, which enhance the quality of the perpetrator's belief in his own good. There are film and its research. The story of Fr Gerald later quotations from Fr Murphy stating that Fitzgerald and his founding of the Servants of he was trying to help the boys, some with the Paracletes in the 1940s, an order to work sexual orientation difficulties, that he behaved with priest sexual offenders as well as priest as he did to help some boys through sexual alcoholics. He advocated spiritual reform rather confusion, that he recognised their needs, than psychology, but he and his order are even taking their sins on himself—and that he

33 COMPASS prayed and confessed afterwards. There was others who are far less guilty are forbidden. also mention of 'cognitive distortion' in the Two of them went to see Fr Murphy before he way that the abuser interpreted his behaviour. died in 1998, with a camera, but he told them to The only other member of the clergy to be go away, that he was an old man and wanted interviewed for the film besides Fr Doyle is to live in dignity. He seems to have gone out, Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, nevertheless, to play poker machines and who talks frankly and with sorrow and shame collapsed, and was buried in vestments as a about events in his own life (nothing to do priest. But, the men are alive, relieved and, still with abuse of minors) who, when asked had in the spirit of activism, American style, he met Fr Murphy, replied that the main protesting. impression he made was that he was childlike So, in 2012-2013, a film that summarises in his self-delusions. much of the history of abuse and how it was But, in the latter third of the film, the focus handled and mishandled or not handled. is well and truly on Rome. One of the difficulties More documentaries on abuse in secular is the constant referring to 'The Vatican'. While institutions are emerging from the United the references to the Pope and the Curia are States, one, The Overnighters (2014), showing accurate in their way, it is particular people in workers being brought in to a plant and local the Vatican and its bureaucracy who are subjecting that some of them have accusations responsible. The whole section will be of abuse against them. Another focuses on a fascinating to many Catholics but may be too community where it seems that some Lutheran general or taking audiences into unfamiliar pastors had been abusers. Happy Valley realms which may make it rather difficult for (2014) is a documentary about a sports coach some non-Catholic audiences. Here is where arrested for abuse. And Kirby Dick who made the investigative journalism can be hard work. the 2004 documentary on the Catholic Church The film tries to give some dates for letters and abuse, Twist of Faith, has made two more coming to the Office of Doctrine of the Faith, documentaries, The Invisible War (2012) where of Cardinal Ratzinger's decisions that all cases he turns his attention to abuse in the military come to him which, as the narrator suggests, and The Hunting Ground (2015) on abuse, makes him the most informed person in the cover-ups on American college campuses. world on this abuse. Dates are given as are In terms of fiction, for this period, the examples of letters sent and not answered, or outstanding drama is an Australian six-part material back to sender as unwanted. television mini-series, Devils Playground. It At the end we go back to Milwaukee. We takes a character from the 1976 film, The Devils see the men signing again, 'Deaf Power!'. We Playground, a student in the Marist Bros see their desperation, their being Juniorate, in 1953, and asks what his character acknowledged (after some scenes with might be doing in 1988. He is a psychologist Archbishop Cousins of Milwaukee in the 1970s becomes involved at the invitation of an whose response was erratic, inclined not to auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, in taking on a priest believe such stories about a priest, meeting accused of abusing boys as a client. with Fr Murphy rather than asking any of the This miniseries shows a wide range of other students and sending a nun (name and clerical characters and how they were handling photo supplied in the film) to get one of the abuse accusations in 1988, in the archdiocese: men to recant his statement and make an the role of the Cardinal, the stances of his two apology to the archdiocese). One writes a letter auxiliary bishops, a head of an Institute where to Cardinal Sodano, telling the story, asking abusive priests went for therapy, a range of for Fr Murphy to be stood down, noting that parish priests as well as teaching brothers, and he is still allowed to receive communion when the accused priest himself, formerly a parish

34 THE ABUSE OF MINORS: A CINEMA RESOURCE priest and now a school chaplain. The series in Ireland and which brings the plot to opens with the suicide of a young boy, the contemporary life - even though, one hopes, investigations, the effect on a family when the that the principal events of the film would not truth is revealed, a focus on another little boy happen in real life. Brendan Gleeson gives a who is being groomed, picked out as someone totally persuasive performance as a parish special, taken on camps, taken hunting with a priest in Ireland, 38 km from Sligo. gun, but who is confused when the priest he With the focus of the title, it is clear that admires keeps turning up at his home. this will be a film about suffering, or that the With six hours running time, the series has priest will be a significant Christ-figure, a the opportunity to go to some length and victim of his own Calvary, an innocent victim, depth in exploring characters. The abusing atoning for the sins of others. priest himself has charming moments, seems This is made very clear from the opening to be a very concerned priest, but is in denial sequence, the priest sitting in the about what he has been doing, even while confessional, a man coming into the box and discussing with the psychologist, and the declaring that he has been a victim of a priest's situation is generally treated as hush-hush. In sexual abuse, that it happened over many a twist of plot, it is the seemingly liberal years, that it has ruined his life. And then he auxiliary Bishop who finishes with covering makes a threat that he will kill this priest on the up, even protecting himself from exposure in following Sunday, not because he is a guilty his handling the situation. It is the seemingly man, but because he is innocent and that will conservative bishop whose conscience is make his death more significant. struck, who is asked to be secretive by the Since the initial theme is that of clerical Papal Nuncio even as he asks his own sexual abuse, Calvary has to be seen in the secretary to find out the facts, but agrees to context of the Church in Ireland, of the meet the families to discuss the matter, even government enquiry, of sentences for guilty when he finds it repugnant and is awkward in clergy, and the criticism of church officials for his manner. not understanding the crisis and for not acting The brother principal of the school which on it well. This gives a powerful framework for the victims attend is initially wary but this week in the life of the parish priest, ultimately does confront the priest and another considering what he has been told, preparing brother, and the audience initially suspect him for his possible death. The accuser could be of being an abuser, is in fact by no means an anyone in the village, although the priest has abuser but the support of the abused boys. recognised his voice. He is a late vocation, a It is interesting that a country of small widower who decided on priesthood after his population, like Australia, which has had to wife's death. We are introduced to his face so many cases, is able to produce a daughter, who has attempted suicide, but has miniseries which is technically and come to visit her father and talk things over dramatically excellent and probing. with him. Which means he is a priest of some This survey will end for a film which has life experience, of family life, even though he received acclaim and has been widely seen: reflects that he was something of a failure - Calvary (2014), and a drinker. As can be seen from the title, this is a film The action of the film is basically the priest rooted in the gospel story and in Catholic faith. visiting different people in the parish, a woman It is one of the best films on priests in recent who does his washing, is separated from her years. It was written and directed by John husband, the local butcher, and is having an Michael McDonagh, whose screenplay affair with the local garage man. She is not reveals quite detailed knowledge of the church averse to other relationships, especially to the

35 COMPASS atheist and mocking doctor in the local but wanting a gun just in case he gets ill and hospital. But, as with the other characters, she needs to leave this world. is able to speak frankly to the priest and he is It is the priest's preparation and readiness able to speak frankly with her. It is the same which is more important than what might with her husband, the butcher. There is a young happen, his death or not. However, one man in the village, rather prim and proper, significant question for the priest is whether awkward in his manner, who comes to the priest he wept at the killing of his pet dog—and to discuss his ambitions, his personality, his whether he wept at the plight of the victims of sexual problems, his future. Other people he sex abuse. A key question for the church, visits include the man from the garage, the hierarchy and laity. local policeman and his rather exhibitionist son, John Michael McDonagh does have a key a local landowner who is alienated from his idea, revealed early in the film, when his family, drinks a great deal, and confesses that daughter asks the priest about virtues. He he cares for nothing and no one. On the lighter replies that forgiveness has been underrated— side, there is an old American author who something which pervades the ending of the welcomes the priest, getting food from him, film. NOTE: An overview of this topic appeared in Compass, 2005. For readers wanting more detail about particular films, the information readily available on The Internet Movie Database is recommended. For discussion material on these films, Google Peter Malone's website. Often, there is detailed information about particular films and their history found by Googling Wikipedia.

Sexual abuse of minors is not the province of the Catholic Church alone. About 4 percent of priests committed an act of sexual abuse on a minor between 1950 and 2002, according to a study being conducted by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. That is roughly consistent with data on many similar professions.... "We don't see the Catholic Church as a hotbed of this or a place that has a bigger problem than anyone else," Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, told Newsweek. "I can tell you without hesitation that we have seen cases in many religious settings, from traveling evangelists to mainstream ministers to rabbis and others." Part of the issue is that the Catholic Church is so tightly organized and keeps such meticulous records -- many of which have come to light voluntarily or through court orders -- that it can yield a fairly reliable portrait of its personnel and abuse over the decades. Other institutions, and most other religions, are more decentralized and harder to analyze or prosecute. Still, it is hardly good news that the church appears to be no different from most other institutions in its incidence of abuse. Shouldn't the Catholic Church and other religious institutions hold to a higher standard? —‘Five myths about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal’ by David Gibson, Washington Post, Sunday, April 18, 2010

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