Many individuals believe child molestation to be the worst crime in the world. Murder is instant and and the repercussions faced by the victim are short-lived. Unfortunately, the consequences of child molestation are lifelong. Abusing one’s power is bad enough, but even worse, when the perpetrator is the ultimate authority. Priest, especially Catholic priest has become infamous for molesting children. Can it really get much worse?

 

 

Yes and HBO’s documentary, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House of God, shows us that there are no limits to the disgust of sex abusers. The documentary explores the crimes of Father Lawrence Murphy. This Milwaukee priest takes his sick obsession to the extreme and molests deaf children, mostly boys! The story is told through sign language by several victims, including Terry Kohut, Gary Smith, Bob Bolger and Arthur Budzinski.

 

 

Despite the men’s courage to come forward and tell the truth about their abuses, it is covered up for a significant period of time. Although nothing really happens to the child molester, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee hasn’t been so lucky. The entity has been plagued by lawsuits and more claims of sexual abuse throughout the years. This has resulted in the Milwaukee archdiocese filing for bankruptcy. They winded up paying out 29 million dollars. Their assets remained around 98.4 million with 90 million being allocated. Either way, they’re still immensely rich.

 

 

Father Lawrence Murphy passed away, before he could be charged for his crimes. So, what happened to the victims? Well, Terry Kohut filed a lawsuit against Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. In October of 2014, Arthur Budzinski was honored by the Wisconsin School for the Deaf Alumni Association for his part in exposing Father Murphy.

 

 

The exposing of Murphy likely led to Pope Benedict XVI being replaced with Pope Francis. Of course, it is almost certain that these things keep on keeping on. A new Pope isn’t going to change anything. Just this month in New Jersey, Rev. Manuel Gallo Espinoza claimed he wasn’t a “pedophile person” and that his 15-year-old male victim wanted it and had “evil in his mind”. And we have another one in Philly. Rev. Charles Engelhardt was charged in 2011 for orally sodomizing and molesting a 10-year-old boy in 1998-1999.

 

 

What does this really teach us about the Catholic Church or any church? Well, they sure don’t practice what they preach. For the majority of priests to battle against homosexuality in the public, they really seem to have a sick obsession with it in the private. Perhaps there is a connection between the two? Either way, the documentary is worth watching. It is a little too long and honestly doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, but the particular case explored is a little bit worse than the rest.

 

 

The documentary deserves a 7 out of 10!