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Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
I didn’t know anger until one moment when I was twelve years old. Up until that moment I’d only known fear – of my abusive father and classmates.
I found a magazine laying around the house, a teen magazine circa 1960. I didn’t know how it got there, but it probably arrived via my brother who is eight years older than me.
I’d never seen a teen magazine before, so I scanned it. I read only one article. I don’t remember any of the words, but I remember the girl’s story. It was about what we call now ‘date rape.’ I’d never heard about the phenomenon of rape. When I read whatever the words were that described a man sexually forcing himself onto a women I felt an inner explosion of rage. I felt as if I was burning up. The brutal intrusion! What permanent damage must this do to the girl?! How does she live with herself after this?!
So, yes, I react with anger when I see all our documentaries about environmental destruction and injustice of all ilk. But that anger pales in comparison when I face narrative and documentary films about sexual assaults.
Written and directed by prolific filmmaker Alex Gibney, “Mea Maxima Culpa” uses the career-long pedophilia of a Catholic priest in the United States as a catalyst to document the centuries-long institutionalization of priestly pedophilia in the Catholic Church.
Early in this incendiary HBO documentary Richard Sipe – a counselor, author, and a former Benedictine Monk who made a 25 year study of celibacy and the Catholic Priesthood – makes one of the film’s fundamental statements about the Church and sex: “The system of the Catholic clergy – for which I have great respect and to which I have given many years of my life – selects, cultivates, protects, defends, and produces sexual abusers.”
Gibney hears from victims as well as those, like Sipe, who have attempted to uncover and stop these crimes against children. Gibney tells the story that has led to major reform in the United States. But he describes a history and culture so deep within the Church I was left wondering how effective these reforms are in protecting children in the United States. The film also makes it clear, of course, that the abuse is worldwide, and that initiatives to address this abuse outside our borders are nascent.
In an interview published on HBO’s website Gibney was asked, “What kind of change have you seen in the Church's policies on sexual abuse since these scandals have erupted?”
He responded: “Judging from statements from the Vatican, it's as if there has barely been a sex abuse crisis. They really haven't reckoned with it. Even worse, they keep saying it's over, and then more dimensions of the cover-up are revealed. I mean, Pope Benedict has apologized, but in a way that seems so vague and indistinct and didn't at all reckon with the Church's role in covering up these crimes."
"On the other hand," Gibney continued, "If you look at the United States, the American bishops have made substantive changes – out of necessity. Not only priests, but bishops are being prosecuted – and not just for committing crimes, but for covering them up. Civil society has taken hold. The idea that the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland can speak of the "rape and torture of children" at the hands of the Catholic Church – that's powerful stuff."
"As a result, people are not going to church – not because they have lost their faith in God, but because they've lost their faith in the man-made institution of the Church. All over the world people are getting so angry at the Church's intransigence that they're demanding a change, and are voting with their feet. The Vatican hasn't changed, but the church is changing around it.”
I had nobody to talk to when I first felt my rage. I didn’t have the words to say if there was someone I could talk to. I’ve told this personal story only a few times. But I can now make a humble contribution by sharing my review of “Mea Maxima Culpa” and encouraging you to see the film.
February 11, 2013: Pope Benedict XVI resigns because of ‘age.’ D. Schwartz February 9, 2013