Review: Mea Maxima Culpa

2nd July 2013

By Lucy England.

Alex Gibney’s documentary Mea Maxima Culpa, exploring the much debated and highly publicised topic of paedophilia in the Catholic Church is a must see. It follows four deaf alumni of the St John’s school of the deaf, and their role in bringing forward the first protest against clerical sexual abuse against children in America – the Lawrence Murphy Case.

The film starts with reel of heart-warming images of the children at St John’s – happy in their silence in a supportive and loving atmosphere. Even their initial relationship with the man that will be their abuser is one of love and dependence. Father Murphy is their ‘second father’; they are desperate for his attention and he is a ‘Pied Piper’ figure. It is here that the sinister nature of their relationship begins to unfold.

Later in the film, Tony Walsh the notorious ‘singing priest’ belts out Blue Suede Shoes live on television, in complete denial that he has committed and crime. As the film details, these men are able to justify their actions by their apparent closeness to God, clearing them of all blame. It is this denial then, that Gibney takes such an issue with, claiming himself that Pope Benedict’s resignation was somehow related to knowledge of abuse within the church.

Therefore, the film focuses on the quiet truth of the four’s collective story, finally giving them the voice to express themselves to the world. As a whole, the film uses these interviews to weave together cuts of old footage with more modern research to express the scale of this issue, while still treating it with the necessary subtlety.

A well thought out explorative film of a very potent issue, Mea Maxima Culpa identifies that the ‘most grievous fault’ made when dealing with this debate is keeping it quiet, forcing children to be ashamed and believe that what they are experiencing is right, or if wrong, something they deserve. By bringing the issue into the world of film Alex Gibney opens it up to discussion and a larger awareness, and hopefully children such as these will no longer be silenced.

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