Deliver Us from Evil

In my opinion, this film is a front-runner for the Oscar for Best Documentary for 2006.

It's absolutely riveting. If you are a fan of "Silence of the Lambs," you should see this because Oliver O'Grady is just as chilling as Hannibal Lecter -- more so because he is real. Filmmaker Amy Berg did a news piece on O'Grady, a Catholic priest who raped dozens -- possibly hundreds -- of children in California. On a whim, she called him in his exile in Ireland and got him to agree to an extensive three day interview. It is a confession unlike any other.

On one level, Deliver Us From Evil is a righteous indictment of the Catholic Church: its inaction, its enabling, its bureaucracy, its male-dominated backwardness.

At the same time, the film is a profile of some incredibly decent people: Catholic parents and children who were victims in this rampage. Their character is inspiring -- their pain is as raw as anything you will ever see on film.

Finally, it's the study about the way a psychopath can play every human emotion to his own advantage.

There is Hell to pay for this man's sins. And some victims are living that hell every day.

This is mighty strong documentary on the abuse of children by the Catholic Church and its cover-up. I read elsewhere that the term "abuse" is a euphemism for much more sordid acts; namely the physical rape of an innocent child.

This film examines the history of one pedophile priest in the United States and how his acts were simply covered-up by the Catholic hierarchy. He performed innumerable acts on both male and female children. Even though some parents reported this to the Catholic ministry, it was only when police officials became involved that he was arrested. There are many interviews with both the victims and those in the Church hierarchy who covered it up, as well as the pedophile himself.

So are we provided with many different angles. The documentary never becomes accusatory in itself – but it allows us to view the heart-wrenching lives of the victims and their families. They try to extract an apology from the Vatican, but this is all in vain.

It even brings us to view the life of this eerie pedophile, not presented as evil incarnate; but as a human being with a severe psychological problem. At times you can feel his ingratiating performance even as he acknowledges the severity of what he has done. This is a rare film that deals with both oppressor and oppressed.

The film is about several things: the nature of the evil that exists in this pedophile, the corruption of the Catholic Church, the Church's refusal to deal with sexual issues and admit its crimes against humanity, but most of all it is about the torment of the victims who are left alone with their families to struggle on with their lives. This documentary contains some very emotional scenes and is very well made.

I cannot adequately express my sincere sympathy for the victims of clergy abuse. I was totally disgusted with the responses offered by the bishops/monsignor and archbishop/cardinal in regard to their knowledge of abuse by Oliver Grady. How can all these priests keep quiet about these crimes against children? They are not ignorant of this. I am Catholic, and I am the Church as are all the people. These men do not follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ; and we (the real Church) better start taking responsibility for bringing the hierarchy to task. Thank you to the survivors, their families, Amy Berg and all those who are working so hard to raise our consciousness to these crimes, and the truth about our leaders. This isn't the end of the Catholic church. It is the end of the way we've known it; and it's about time.

This was a shocking account of the political sickness that trickles through our world in schools and, yes, of all places, our Churches. Not a date movie. Similar to Schindler's List, the gripping tales told by Catholic Religious leaders and victims of child molestation in the Church held me in suspense of reality and opened my eyes to the scale and duration of the problem, which still exists in many places today. The disturbing part was the institutional course of action and lack of action taken when high leaders were made aware of the problem and asked for help by BOTH sexual victims AND sexual offenders. As with many parts of systematic human intervention, the easiest thing to do was to ignore or divert and continue. This film is an eye opener. I do not recommend it for children 12 years or younger.

This is a documentary to expose the sexual abuse done by catholic clergymen to children, and to expose the subsequent systematic cover up done by the church.

Due to the disturbing nature of the film, it is hard not to judge it without reference to morals. It is wrong to abuse children. I never imagined the extent of betrayal and deceit in the catholic priests' scandal. It is shocking, scary and disgusting.

Talking about the film proper, I think it is very nicely done. How Jyono's family turns from support to anger is touchingly portrayed. Putting Nancy's trauma with Jyono's support seem to give a balanced picture of the situation. That is, until later, when the truth is revealed. Anne Jyono's trauma is central to the film, because Anne still has faith despite all the wrongs done to her. The most heartbreaking scene in the film is when Anne breaks down after hearing her father lost faith and announces that "There is no God".

With the actual convict also appearing to give interview, I find "Deliver Us From Evil" the most convincing and truthful. It is sad to see that O'Grady's guilt is very superficial.

A truly outstanding film is able to evokes a plethora of emotions. Especially sadness, disgust, sympathy. "Deliver Us From Evil" is able to do all these. It seamlessly takes viewers into a journey of trauma and despair of the victims; the guilt of the family members for being to trusting; deceit and ruthless lies to cover things up.

The other brave souls, who overcome all the obstacles and let the world know about these heinous crimes, are remarkable. The people who funded and worked on this film are remarkable. They face an insurmountable giant and they are not afraid to speak out. They need to let the world know. This film is shocking, touching and saddening. It breaks my heart to see hundreds of thousands of lives wrecked by their trusted authority figure. I hope "Deliver Us From Evil" will deliver children away from evil.