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	DVD Documentary Recounts Pain of Clergy Sex Abuse Victims By Annysa Johnson Milwaukee Journal Sentinel July 24, 2009 http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/51642087.html When Janine Geske gathered a group of clergy sex abuse victims, an offending priest and others affected by the Catholic clergy sex abuse crisis for a so-called "healing circle" a few years back, she knew what would transpire there would be profound. So much so that the former Supreme Court Justice, who now heads Marquette University Law School's Restorative Justice Initiative, decided to have the session professionally videotaped. The footage sat in a Marquette safe for nearly two years before she handed it over to independent television producer Rita Hagen Aleman, saying: I know you'll know what to do with this. And she did. Their collaboration has produced "The Healing Circle," an hourlong documentary on DVD that has caught the attention of some Catholic bishops and the lay committee that advises them on policy and training after the clergy sex abuse scandal. "It's compelling, very well done," said Diane Knight of Milwaukee, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' National Review Board, who screened the documentary for fellow members during the committee and bishops' annual conferences in San Antonio last month. The video documents a healing circle - a key element of the restorative justice philosophy - conducted over four hours by Geske in November 2006. In it, victims, an abuser, clergy, lay workers and others recount, often emotionally, how sex abuse in the church has affected them. Geske, who has mediated abuse claims filed by victims against the Milwaukee Archdiocese, said she created the documentary to give faces and voices to victims. "For people who say, why don't they get over it or they're just looking for money - I wanted people to understand the impact to survivors .?.?. and the ripple effect," Geske said. "The harm is to so much more than just survivors." That comes through in the personal stories in the documentary: of a mother whose son was victimized and later killed himself; of a woman, who though not directly affected by abuse, left the church in the crisis of faith it inspired. Aleman, who, with a group of friends in the local media production community, fronted the $50,000 cost of producing the documentary, has screened the DVD for groups including clergy, lay leaders and victims. The reaction is always absolute silence, she said. "People take their time, but after a while, they can't stop talking about it." The most powerful part for Aleman, who viewed all eight hours of videotape - four from each of two cameras - is that the circle's participants appeared to forget there were cameras in the room. "They spoke so openly, they so completely shared their pain. I'd never heard it in such a profound way," she said. Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests raised concerns about Geske's promotion of healing circles, given her role in limiting victims' recourse in civil court as a Supreme Court justice. Geske wrote the opinion that blocked seven victims abused by priests as children, saying the law applied only to children assaulted by blood relatives. In addition, he said, former Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has cited her restorative justice work in arguing against proposed legislation that would make it easier for clergy victims to sue their abusers. Geske said the circles are not meant to be an alternative to the courts. "We don't advocate that," she said. Marquette is marketing the documentary DVD as an educational tool for use by parishes, seminaries, lay organizations, even other faith communities, through a Web site, www.healingcirclegroup.com. The cost of the DVD is $45.90, or $105.90 for a set of four. "The questions in restorative justice are who's been harmed, what is the harm, and how do we repair the harm," Geske said. "We have questions in the DVD for parishes, seminaries, sexual treatment groups and others asking, how do we repair this harm? How do we protect children in the future?" The hope, she said, is that viewers will want to have their own circles and dialogues about it. The Milwaukee Archdiocese helped pull together participants for the circle, including Dolan, whose taped introduction is available as part of the DVD on request. But the archdiocese did not have editorial control over the documentary, Geske said. Proceeds from the documentary, once production costs are covered, will fund future projects by the Restorative Justice Initiative aimed at education and protecting children from abuse. "No one wanted to profit from the stories of these victims," Aleman said, "and the only way to ensure that is to further the work of healing."
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