Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is the new documentary exploring the abuse of power in the Catholic Church.
By Genna Patterson
Mea Maxima Culpa is the latest documentary by Alex Gibney, Oscar winner for Taxi to the Dark Side. The documentary interviews four brave deaf men, who in the first case of public protest, set out to expose the priest who abused them as children at a deaf school for boys.
The film follows their story and the subsequent cover up that stretched from Milwaukee, Wisconsin all the way to the highest office in the Vatican. The case in question became known as the Lawrence Murphy case whereby the Catholic Church refused to defrock Father Murphy after the allegations of abuse of over 200 boys came to light through a New York Times article.
The documentary was hailed by critics at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God also features the voices of Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke, Jamey Sheridan and John Slattery who provide the vocal translation of the deaf interviewees.
The latin ‘mea culpa’ translates as ‘through my own fault’ in English.
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is released on February 22nd 2013 nationwide.
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