Film Follows Clergy Sex Abuse Explores Church Response to Charges, by Jim McLaughlin, Marquette Tribune, April 12, 2008

Film Follows Clergy Sex Abuse
Explores Church Response to Charges

By Jim McLaughlin
Marquette Tribune
April 12, 2008

http://media.www.marquettetribune.org/media/storage/paper1130/news/2008/04/10/News/Film-Follows.Clergy.Sex.Abuse-3313821.shtml

"Vows of Silence," a documentary which details the Catholic Church's procedure in dealing with clergy sex offenders was shown publicly for the first time to an audience of more than 100 in a Wauwatosa Methodist church last week.

The Rev. Marcial Maciel is the subject of "Vows of Silence."
Photo by Jason Berry

The movie follows the case of the Rev. Marcial Maciel, a Roman Catholic priest who founded the Legionaries of Christ, a religious order for clergy, and Regnum Christi, a religious movement for both clergy and laypeople, similar to the Opus Dei order made infamous from Daniel Brown's "The DaVinci Code". He was accused of being addicted to prescription drugs and sexually abusing members of his congregation, including a group of boys and young men he favored and called "the apostolic schoolboys," said the film's director Jason Berry.

The allegations were investigated by a Vatican department that was led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI, Berry said. The Pope removed Maciel from public ministry but dropped the investigation due to the priest's old age and failing health. Maciel died in January at the age of 87.

Former Legionary and 1984 Marquette alumnus Christopher Kuzne said Legionary members who were victims of sexual abuse didn't readily come forward because initiation into the order required them to vow they would not speak against superiors and report any who did. Kuzne said rumors suggest that Pope Benedict eradicated that vow, but there has been no public statement from the Vatican or the order.

Kuzne, who appears in the film, said he joined the Legionary for its serious religious tone. He lived a cloistered life, waking up at 4:30 a.m. and praying four hours each day.

In 1992, he learned Fr. Maciel had a drug addiction and was solicited for sex by the priest, Kuzne said. While working in the Vatican, Kuzne disobediently read an article written by Berry that included the apostolic schoolboys' accusations. He left the order and the priesthood in 2001 after 17 years as a Legionary. He is now married with two children, and is still Catholic.

# Documentary "Vows of Silence" is case study of church's response to clergy sex offender

# The Rev. Marcial Maciel, subject of the movie, founded controversial Legionaries of Christ and was removed from public ministry after allegations of drug addiction and sexual abuse

# A Marquette alumnus in the movie tells of his encounters with Maciel while he was a member Legionaries

# First public showing was organized by clergy abuse victims and organizations in Wauwatosa

Berry said the film focuses on the Maciel scandal as a metaphor to the larger systemic problems in the Church, with regards to allegations of sex abuse.

"There is no tradition of accountability," he said. Bishops are rarely held responsible for relocating accused priests who continue to abuse—a process he calls "recycling pedophiles."

Berry wrote an investigative report in 1985 while working as a journalist in New Orleans on a local priest who had abused people in rural towns in the area, he said. This was before clergy sex abuse received the amount of press coverage it gets today, and he and another journalist who exposed the scandal were "charting new territory," he said.

Berry, who is Catholic, said while it wasn't easy for him to share his findings, his duty was to report the information to the public. He hoped that through his investigations, the structure of the Church might change to hold itself accountable.

"I think the Church desperately needs a mechanism for the removal of bishops who misgovern their diocese," Berry said.

The Rev. John Sumwalt, pastor at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church where the film was shown, said the audience engaged in discussion with Berry afterward.

He said the film "spoke clearly to the issue for all denominations to seek justice."

Sumwalt said the abuse is not just a Catholic problem. He himself met with his pastor for vocational counseling until the pastor abused him, he said. After counseling and prayer, he proceeded to become a pastor himself.

Healing is needed for both the victims and the rest of the congregation, Sumwalt said.

"The thing that gets neglected the most is the healing for congregations affected by clergy sexual abuse," he said.

Peter Isely, also a survivor of clergy abuse, is the Midwest director for the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests and helped organize the film showing. He said SNAP has 7,000 active members, almost all victims themselves.

Isely said guardian occupations, like clergy, are required to maintain a level of public trust. If that trust is broken, then they have failed to meet their job description and compromise the integrity of the institution they work for, he said. For that reason, clergy who are sex offenders should be removed. A banker who embezzles money once will never work in the banking industry again because he has violated trust.

"Why would we be so scrupulous and careful with our money but not with our children?" he said.