MovieChat Forums > Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012) Discussion > Excellent Doc!

Excellent Doc!

posted 11 years ago by drmccormack
8 replies | jump to latest

Wow! Extremely well done. I'm blown away by all the evidence. I guess I've never seen the victims discuss their abuse so openly. This film was done in a very respectful and empathetic manner. Beautiful job by this director.

[–] kmc-4 11 years ago

Really informative as well. Who knew that there were so many priests and bishops who were trying to fight the system to get the bad apples removed but were ignored? Or that deaf students would have been some of the most vocal about the abuse? Or that someone came up with the idea of buying a Carribbean island and putting all of the pedophile priests there? Fascinating stuff!

[–] drmccormack 11 years ago

Actually, I wish that more members of the church had fought harder to get rid of the priests who are pedophiles. My family in Ireland no longer attends mass and neither do I. For me, it's the worst form of betrayal- hurting children, maybe destroying their lives. I'm not sure how the church is able to keep operating, so much reform is necessary.

[–] kmc-4 11 years ago

Oh, I completely agree! I went to 14 years of Catholic school, but I can't imagine affiliating myself with an organization that has knowingly allowed this to go on for decades, even centuries! It was reassuring to know that there were some people with conscience and that they were trying to do something, though.

[–] headrush67 11 years ago

I went to Catholic School too. I'm old -lol- so this was back in the 70's/early 80's. We had an elderly alcoholic priest for over 20yrs. Unfortunately he got a DUI because ran over and killed someone's dog along with taking out 4 parked cars in the incident. He spent his twilight yrs on a rocking chair on the porch of the Rectory. We all loved that guy. He really was a sweetheart. We would get younger priests as secondary to our main priest and they would come and go. Even back then we knew who the 'weird' ones were. Looking back, I can't help but think that some of them were pedophiles I hate to say. I never heard the boys talk about if they thought some of these priests were offenders but we girls would decide and discuss which ones to stay away from just on 'creep' factor.

*tigers love cinnamon, they hate pepper*

[–] rpartrid-2 11 years ago

just watched it last night - CBC Television (Canada) - it is a powerful indictment of a medieval ossified institution - how anyone can remain a Catholic knowing the endemic corruption that exists (right to the top) is beyond my understanding

[–] steinj02-942-542389 11 years ago

So based on this continuous thought that if there is one bad apple then there all bad apple thought it just terrible reasoning. If one doctor rips off his patience's then I should never trust a doctor ever again. If a cop frames me of stealing then I should never trust any cops again. I can do this with teachers, parents, and friends. There is no dogma, doctrine, or no scripture evidence that suggest that pedophile (really its ephebophile, most victims are 13 to 19 years old, 81% are male) is OK, or good. Yes the church handle it poorly, and left many and many individuals hurt, angry, and confused. This doesn't mean the Catholic church is wrong. It doesn't fellow that the Catholic is wrong because certain priest sexual abused boys from 13- 19 that its wrong. It suggesting further God has no part or plan to any this. Really lack of thought from all sides.

[–] hero-de-celluloid 11 years ago

Stein - you don't understand that the church not only looked the other way - but made it possible for these monsters to thrive by placing them in positions, not telling the parish, not getting rid of them, not calling the police, etc. This wasn't just a bad person doing bad things - this was an entire organization - all the way to the Pope (the leader). So you can just say you shouldn't hold it against the organization because of a few bad apples - but you have your blinders on - this was the church hiding the offenders, covering up their crimes, etc.

In your example with the cop - no - if a cop frames you that doesn't mean you should not trust the police - but if the police force - including the chief - look the other way, help the cop cover it up, move him to another place so he can frame other people, etc - yes - you shouldn't trust THAT police force - and if you did trust them - you would be an ignorant sheep.

With that said - it isn't all bad - there are great priests and the church can recover if they actively search out and get rid of the bad priests, bring them to justice, and make amend - and until that happens - it is part of the problem - not the solution.

Spoilers!Spoilers!Spoilers!

[–] zolazona 11 years ago

The bad apple is the church, not Catholicism or the parishioners though when I think of it, there were probably lay people who knew that some priests were abusing kids. The church allowed criminals to flourish merrily along, allowing them to keep their jobs while still committing criminal acts. AND appearing as hypocrites...a sin is okay if it is hidden and kept under wraps.

God had a plan in this? Maybe God's plan is to have the survivors sue the church. Maybe God's plan is to make people like you awaken.