Directed by: Alex Gibney
The documentary Mea Maxima Culpa begins with a crawl that the first public complaint against a priest for sexual abuse came in Milwaukee in 1972. Lawrence Murphy, the head of St. John's School For the Deaf, was accused by several deaf male students of sexual abuse. These initial allegations wouldn't be the last for Murphy or of course the Catholic Church. Mea Maxima Culpa documents the Church's complicity in covering up abuse by priests at the highest level. Since the 19th Century, the Vatican's policy on abuse is secrecy and moving the offending priests from parish to parish in hopes it would go away. It is a sad, moving, and terrifying film. If you're a believer in Hell, you couldn't imagine Hell being much worse than what these victims endured.
How did the abuse become so rampant in the church? Why did the church protect abusive priests instead of excommunicating them and turning them over to the police? It appears that getting rid of such priests would negatively affect the church's coffers. Murphy himself was considered a superior fund raiser and was only removed to be given "administrative duties" within the church. He had access to children until his death and he was buried in his priestly robes, which outraged the victims who knew him as a monster. He even had the gall to write a letter to Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) asking not to be defrocked because he "repented his past sins." This wish was apparently granted.
There have been documented cases of abuse for over 1000 years and there is little doubt the Vatican knows about many, if not all, of the cases. Current (and soon to be former) Pope Benedict XVI oversaw every sex abuse case since the mid-1990s. To assume that former Popes before Benedict weren't aware of the abuse would be naive thinking. It's telling that a French priest who brought in millions fund raising was a close confidant of Pope John Paul II was protected, even though he not only abused children, but had a family of his own. The film also focuses on an Irish priest who was famous for doing Elvis Presley impersonations, but also left Irish parishes in chaos after being arrested for child abuse.
The primary emotions I felt watching Mea Maxima Culpa were outrage and sadness. Outrage that the church showed such little compassion for the victims and sad that the victims had to fight for years to have their voices heard. Much of the focus is on the deaf men who were boys when Father Murphy began his abuse. Murphy developed a system in which he would abuse boys whose parents didn't know sign language and thus it would be more difficult for the child to convey what happened. He even enlisted older boys to round up victims for him. He was by all accounts a despicable man who wasn't the least bit repentant. In a chilling part which moved me to tears, two of the men confronted the retired and ailing Father Murphy at his Wisconsin home screaming at him with every bit of energy and communicative ability about his abuse. "Go to prison now" they yelled. The odd ending to this videotaped saga was Father Murphy's maid yelling at the men, "Aren't you Catholic?", as if these men weren't good Catholics because they sought to confront the man who abused them.
I believe the reason the abuse went so rampant in the Catholic Church was twofold. One, the church didn't want to disrupt the money flowing in. Two, priests themselves were elevated to nearly Godlike status for many years and accusing a priest of wrongdoing was like accusing Jesus himself of that wrongdoing. Victims tried for many years to gain justice through the legal system only to have the statute of limitations run out on them. Soon after, the Vatican forked over billions in lawsuits to the abused men and their families. According to one of the victims, money was the only way left to hold the priests and church accountable for the abuse which shattered their lives.
Not that it would ever make them whole again.
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