Délivrez-nous du mal

The most surprising and disturbing scenes in the documentary "Deliver Us from Evil" is to hear from Father Oliver O'Grady himself about the children and babies he sexually abused when he was a Catholic priest in California. We can see that O'Grady is still mentally ill, he is unaware of the seriousness of his actions in the past. He lives a normal life in Ireland as if all his abuses have been forgiven and therefore insignificant and impertinent to him. Another relevant point of the documentary is to present that both the dioceses of California and the Vatican simply deny or cover up all cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by their clergy. It is proven that all religions that view sex as an evil element, or preach fanaticism, certainly have sexual abuse cases done by their members.

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.

I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival, and I am still thinking about it a day later. I was raised a Catholic, and I think that this film should be required viewing for all Catholics. Amy Berg has constructed a documentary that is not only about the abuse of children and their families by an individual priest; it is also about the evil and politics that exist within the institution of the church and that have allowed (and continue to allow) horrible abuses to occur. It actually hurt to watch this film, but I did not walk out of the theatre with a sense of defeat. I left with a sense of resolve, knowing that we need to take the CHURCH back from the politicians masquerading as bishops and cardinals and, yes, even the pope.

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.