The Pundit

Deliver Us From Evil

By Sophie Gaston ⋅ August 6, 2006 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

The disclosure of extensive cases of child abuse within the Catholic Church has attracted much media attention over the past decade, as victims began to garner the courage to come forward with their experiences. Still, despite widespread media coverage, the true extent of the history of child abuse within the Catholic clergy remains unclear. It has become increasingly evident that in many instances, the Church itself was involved in elaborate cover-ups to ensure that the experiences of sufferers never became public. In her feature film debut, Deliver Us From Evil, former journalist Amy Berg delves beneath the layers of deceit that surround such cases to reveal a web of clerical conspiracy.

The centrepiece of the film is the candid testimony of Oliver O’Grady, a former parish priest responsible for the abuse of hundreds of children within his care. O’Grady’s open manner and detached depth of detail are incredibly disarming, especially when juxtaposed with his overt charisma. Harboured by the Catholic Church for over 30 years, O’Grady was simply moved from parish to parish across California, as the Church constructed a wall of silence and duplicity to protect one of their own. As a consequence, although previously convicted of violently abusing two young boys, O’Grady now lives in Ireland with an unsettling level of anonymity, ambling around his neighbourhood park amongst families and children.

O’Grady’s disturbing detachment to his crimes seems even more overwhelming in light of the detailed and emotive descriptions of the abuse described on camera by three of his victims. The emotional potency of their recollections is furthermore interjected with footage of the unaffected and manipulative depositions of some of the most senior bishops in the Catholic Church of Los Angeles. As the web of deception, perjury and denial begins to unravel, the sense of hopelessness grows.

Berg deftly guides the audience into the tangle of lies and corruption, leaving us feeling both disturbed and overwhelmed. Filmed with the ruthless motivation of a journalist, Deliver Us From Evil is at once both an expose of a broad and insidious problem, and a gentle tribute to the courage of a few individuals. The film is by no means an enjoyable or easy one to watch, but it is incredibly moving, and important. Not to be missed.