2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Filmmaker screens documentary on church sex scandal
Bridgette Blight
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Campus
04/23/08 - Twenty men who attended seminaries of the Legionaries of Christ religious order testified to Monsignor Charles Scicluna about allegations that Rev. Marcial Maciel, the founder of the order, sexually abused young men.
Eight of the men interviewed said that Maciel sexually abused them. However, the Vatican took no action against Maciel, who died on Jan. 30. Journalist Jason Berry explored this scandal in his documentary "Vows of Silence," which he showed to an audience of approximately 30 people last night in Chafee Social Science Center as part of the University of Rhode Island Film Festival.
The Legionaries of Christ have approximately 300 priests and a budget of $650 million independently raised on their own.
Critics of the order say that it is more like a cult than a part of the Roman Catholic Church. The secret vows of the Legionaries of Christ forbid members from speaking ill of Maciel or anyone in the order, former seminarians said.
The documentary follows the experiences of a few of the nine Mexican and Spanish men who initially formed a formal investigation against Maciel. These men claimed to be sexually abused by Maciel while they served in seminaries in Spain and Italy. After writing to the Vatican in 1998, their case was closed indefinitely in 1999, only to open again in 2002 after the Boston Globe's reports on Cardinal Bernard Law's mismanagement of the sexual abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese.
Berry also touched on the Pope's visit to the United States. on Thursday. The pope met with sexual abuse victims from the Boston area, the first time a pope has done so. He also said that the scandal was not handled as well as it should have been.
"I was heartened and quite glad by the comments because it is important for him to bring a vocabulary of contrition and atonement," Berry said. "It's important [for the Vatican] to … remove bishops who have abused or transferred abusers."
Students from Mary Healey Jamiel's documentary production class spoke to Berry before the screening.
Eight of the men interviewed said that Maciel sexually abused them. However, the Vatican took no action against Maciel, who died on Jan. 30. Journalist Jason Berry explored this scandal in his documentary "Vows of Silence," which he showed to an audience of approximately 30 people last night in Chafee Social Science Center as part of the University of Rhode Island Film Festival.
The Legionaries of Christ have approximately 300 priests and a budget of $650 million independently raised on their own.
Critics of the order say that it is more like a cult than a part of the Roman Catholic Church. The secret vows of the Legionaries of Christ forbid members from speaking ill of Maciel or anyone in the order, former seminarians said.
The documentary follows the experiences of a few of the nine Mexican and Spanish men who initially formed a formal investigation against Maciel. These men claimed to be sexually abused by Maciel while they served in seminaries in Spain and Italy. After writing to the Vatican in 1998, their case was closed indefinitely in 1999, only to open again in 2002 after the Boston Globe's reports on Cardinal Bernard Law's mismanagement of the sexual abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese.
Berry also touched on the Pope's visit to the United States. on Thursday. The pope met with sexual abuse victims from the Boston area, the first time a pope has done so. He also said that the scandal was not handled as well as it should have been.
"I was heartened and quite glad by the comments because it is important for him to bring a vocabulary of contrition and atonement," Berry said. "It's important [for the Vatican] to … remove bishops who have abused or transferred abusers."
Students from Mary Healey Jamiel's documentary production class spoke to Berry before the screening.