Forgive Us Our Trespasses…

Last updated on: August 25, 2008 at 9:44 am by J. Ryan Parker

Forgive Us Our Trespasses… 2008-08-25T09:44:55-07:00 J. Ryan Parker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sex scandals have rocked the Christian church throughout the past decade. Whether child abuse in the Catholic church or gay prostitutes in the evangelical Protestant community, parishioners and congregants have, directly and indirectly, fallen victim to their leaders’ sexual indiscretions. The public image of these religious leaders has been irreparably tarnished and so has the secular perception of these religious communities. Many viewers’ perception of Ted Haggard in Jesus Camp changed drastically after his confession of involvement with a male prostitute. Moral crusaders like Governor Eliot Spitzer or Senator Larry Craig, while not religious leaders, certainly draw from Judeo-Christian values for their policies. One of the more significant documentaries to emerge in recent years, Deliver Us From Evil, focuses on one aspect of these sex scandals, the rape and molestation of countless women and children by Catholic priests. Still retaining a 100% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com two years after its release, this is truly one of the most significant documentaries of the decade.

Written and directed by Amy Berg, Deliver Us From Evil focuses on Father Oliver O’Grady, a Catholic priest who molested and raped women, boys, and girls during the 70s and 80s in northern California. Berg tells O’Grady’s story through interviews with O’Grady himself, his victims and their families, and the priests, lawyers, and psychologists who deal(t) with his case. Berg also relies on loads of footage from Father O’Grady’s and his superiors’ depositions. Berg reveals a case of rampant evil and sin not only in Father O’Grady’s actions, but in the lies, deceit, and cover up of his superiors.

Berg’s documentary is about as straightforward as they come. Her interviews with Father O’Grady are chillingly and painfully honest as he reveals just what he did to children as young as nine months old. Father O’Grady effects an unimaginable naivete that suggests the dissociative disorder that lawyers accuse him of having. Berg does little editorializing or demonizing here as O’Grady’s evil speaks for itself, revealing how it can creep in our homes and faith communities from the most unlikely of sources.

If O’Grady’s actions are unspeakable, then his superiors’ responses are unimaginable. Throughout their depositions, the bishops claim ignorance of O’Grady’s offenses despite the fact that the lawyers refer to reports that had been filed from the victims’ families years before. In fact, Cardinal Mahony moved O’Grady from one parish to another, never more than 52 miles from one another, rather than turning him over to the authorities, moving him to a monastery, or dismissing him altogether. Moreover, one of the bishops told one of O’Grady’s female victims that she should basically get over it because she was a girl and it was just O’Grady’s curiosity. If she had been a boy, things would have been much different. But O’Grady was molesting young boys as well, and, rather than handling the situation properly, his superiors actually gave him a promotion. Despite his apparent disorders, even Father O’Grady looks back and sees how wrong all this was: “It should have never have happened. I should have been removed and attended to and my victims should have been attended to.”

O’Grady would eventually serve prison time and then be deported back to Ireland where he now walks free among a community ignorant of his past offenses. None of his superiors have been charged for conspiracy or cover up, though lawyers like Father Tom Doyle continue to work for the trials and convictions. In fact, in a concluding title, we learn that President Bush granted the Pope immunity from ever being prosecuted for aiding in the cover up of these events. In his pursuit of power and prestige, and in their attempt to avoid public scandal at all cost, Cardinal Mahony and other Catholic leaders betrayed the very people that they were chosen to protect and serve. By victimizing young children, they betrayed the example of Christ who saw children as the heart of the kingdom of God. By trying to avoid public scandal, they only made the situation worse for themselves and their victims.

The heart of Deliver Us From Evil is the inclusion of the testimonies and stories of several of Father O’Grady’s victims, specifically two women and a man. Their stories reflect their inability to ever fully recover from their traumatic experiences. Their pain and sorrow evidence the, perhaps, impossibility of forgiveness. Their images of not only priests, but of God, have been forever broken. One of the victims responds, “He [Father O’Grady] was the closes thing to God I ever knew.” In the Lord’s Prayer, from which the film’s title comes, we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Theologians like Marjorie Suchocki write thoughtfully and elegantly about the necessity for forgiveness. Yet when she includes examples of cases where forgiveness is needed, they never approach the severity of events like Father O’Grady’s child molestation. How are these women and men to forgive him when he has not only traumatized them, but their parents as well? Is prison time and deportation all that is required for him to make amends?

Deliver Us From Evil explicitly critiques the structure of the Catholic church and its emphasis on celibacy. There can be no doubt that Father O’Grady’s actions are a searing example of personal evil that must be exposed and punished. Yet we must also consider, not in any way to excuse, that this is an extreme perversion of a natural tendency further complicated by the unnatural repression of this tendency within the Catholic priesthood.

The points for discussion that I have raised here only scratch the surface of this important film. Deliver Us From Evil represents one of a group of documentaries that everyone should watch, especially would-be ministers. It is so unfortunate that a branch of the Christian church so committed to social justice throughout history should fall victim to and perpetrate such grave injustices that have resulted in countless victims in this country and around the world. Moreover, we can think of countless ways in which the over $1 billion the church has spent dealing with this scandal could have been used to further social justice ministries.

A final strength of Berg’s film is her inclusion of the likes of Father Tom Doyle, a Catholic priest and lawyer fighting against the scandal on behalf of the victims. Perhaps his work, and others like him, can help heal the brokenness that his colleagues have wrought.

Film

Previous Post

August 20, 2008

Sacred Identities...

Next Post

August 28, 2008 Judas...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Classics DVD Film Music News Pop Culture Events Print Sports Television Uncategorized Video Games

Select a Month March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many chapters are in Proverbs?

Select your answer to see how you score.

27 50 22 31