A friend told me about a HBO documentary that is available On Demand until March 4.  It is called Mea Maxima Culpa and it will be in theaters on Friday.  The documentary is about sex abuse in the Catholic Church, explored through the case of a pedophile priest and the four men who set out to expose him.  These men were boys at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee in the 1960’s and 1970’s.  The movie is very difficult to watch.

The response of the Church was concern for its own reputation and the reputations of these “men of God,” not for the many, many victims.  The voices of victims were repeatedly drowned out by the powerful. The four men who have never given up on exposing what happened to them and thousands of others are truly courageous.  They never gave up.

Attorney Jeffrey Anderson has represented thousands of victims of pedophile priests.  He described the reaction of the Church—“Deny, minimize and blame.”  Blame the media, blame the lawyers, and now even blame the survivors.  It is a sadly familiar refrain.  You should watch this documentary.