BFI LFF 2012: Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God *****

In the week that has seen the shock resignation of Pope Benedict XVI comes a brutally uncompromising documentary about the clerical child sex abuse scandal and the extraordinary lengths the Catholic Church went to cover it up which goes all the way to the highest echelons of the Vatican.

The Pontiff is in fact the most learned man on the subject. When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition, it was decreed that every sex abuse case involving a minor went to him. He was fully aware of the extent of the problem yet he did nothing to stop or bring the perpetrators to justice.

Oscar winning film maker Alex Gibney’s rigorous expose is a gripping account of systematic abuse of power and collusion to protect the Church’s reputation at all costs.

The film begins by investigating Father Lawrence Murphy, a charismatic priest,  who abused over 200 deaf children in a school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from the 1950s to 1974. The accounts from four of his victims, powerfully voiced by renowned actors, are both heart-breaking and sickening as their efforts to unmask him and get him ex communicated fell on deaf ears.

Through the use of archival footage and grainy home videos Gibney effectively recalls the era and highlights Murphy’s depravity as he singled out youngsters whose parents didn’t know sign language.

But the documentary also looks at paedophile priests in Europe and South America along with the Vatican’s continued code of silence.

It paints a disturbing picture of errant behaviour being tolerated as long as it was kept secret. Victims were paid off and priests were banned from reporting their depraved colleagues to the authorities. Those who tried to take action against abusers felt the full force of the Vatican.

This is a very powerful and emotive documentary which will leave you shaken to the core and wondering how men of the cloth could do such heinous things to poor defenceless children and get away with it.

As Joseph Ratzinger prepares to step down as Pope his papacy will be forever stained by the sex abuse scandal and the knowledge he could have made a vital difference but didn’t.

5/5 stars

By Maria Jose

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