Father Oliver O'Grady, the convictedpaedophile priest in a scene from
the film Deliver Us From Evil
Last April broadcaster Dave Fanning in a film review on the Marian Finucane show, vented his horror and disgust after watching the film Deliver Us From Evil, a docu-film on the child abuser Father Oliver O’Grady.Fannings remarks on the Catholic Church brought him to the attention of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland after a complaint from a Catholic Priest. I felt Dave Fanning’s remarks while in some places over-the-top, were legitimate enough and represented the most outraged public response to the evil of clerical child sexual abuse, I have heard. Below is the complete text of the radio interview as heard on April 1,2007.
"EVIL INCARNATE"
Dave Fanning: The film -Deliver Us From Evil- is a bizarre movie, it’s a documentary made by Amy Berg about a priest, Oliver O’Grady a convicted paedophile who worked in Northern California in the 70’s and 80’s in particular. He spent 7 years in jail of a 14 year jail sentence, his victims of course are still serving a life-sentence. He smiles, he’s charming, he speaks of his desire for young boys and girls, he has no remorse at all. You feel at some stages in the movie that he’s owning up, but as much as he manipulates the truth throughout the movie, he’s trying to manipulate us as well.
Marian Finucane: Is it an actor ?
Dave: No ,oh my God no, this is the point you see. Amy Berg tried to get the Church to release files and papers on certain people but of course it wouldn’t do that. Because of that and her resultant investigation she came across this guy who said he would speak,and he’s currently living in Ireland. I tell you, everybody who goes to see this movie is going to be very scared about this sort of thing because it’s a much bigger story than the story itself, there’s much more in the story.
Marian: How do you mean ?
Dave: First of all this guy isn’t a paedophile he’s a rapist and the reason he’s able to do his monstrous sexual abuse is because he’s a priest. Because of all that the Catholic church and the hierarchy will let him hide basically behind its organisation and this ridiculous thing about cardinal law, and every other damn stupid thing it talks about. Like this week the pope is going on about hell, hell is the Catholic Church according to this movie and anybody who comes out thinking anything else will be just like, idiotic.
Marian: What happened ?
Dave: He abused hundreds of kids, some of the detail you do not want to know, so I’ll give you a little - the youngest (abused) was 9 months, one person in this movie was abused from the age of 5-15,she’s in a terrible state in the movie , her father is saying God doesn’t exist anymore, you can see her breaking down in the backround.It so makes your blood boil, it so makes you think that every(cinema) ticket you get should be given with one of those(sick) bags you get in an aeroplane, because really you wont feel the same when you come out of it. But the fundamental problem is, if you just want to take just one individual, which is Oliver O’Grady and don’t want to tarnish the hundreds of great people who have joined the priesthood, that’s all very well. But those people who have joined the priesthood have joined an organisation that is evil incarnate. That is the problem.
Marian: Why do you say its evil ?
Dave: Because look at the movie you’ll see this, the amount of cover up that’s going on. First of all the amount of exposure that we’ve seen over the last bunch of years, has anything really been done, has recompense really happened, have apologies really taken place? Have people said this is wrong, this is the way it shouldn’t be ? Remember the Catholic Church in Rome is one of the biggest most successful corporations in the entire universe, your Enrons and Exrons are in the halfpenny place compared to this crowd. We think we’ve heard an awful lot of explaining about the scandals and sexual abuse of priests but most of the detail is hidden behind all sorts of secrecy and shame. The sexual act outside of marriage is abuse, therefore confess it and you’re forgiven. So the arrogance of the Catholic authorities who hide these crimes allowing child rape because their mission is above sin. Also Cardinal O’Mahoney is the main guy in California, he knew about this because he had been told a hundred times. He moved your man(Oliver O’Grady) on countless times, usually 50 miles further to, in the movie it is called the parishes, but when you come out you realise they were his victims, to a new bunch of victims, he moves him to a new bunch of victims. Why?…because any kind of scandal would have impeded his(O’Mahoney)rise in the Church, and that’s the way it is. This is like a fact movie there’s no narrative, the director isn’t there trying to tell you this ,it literally tells the story as it is. It’s a microcosm of so many other examples right across the board - we’ve had the Boston one, the Canadian one, we’ve had the Irish one, this is the Californian one and a lot of other places in the world. The implication in the movie is that this rife and rampant all over the place. The business of saving souls basically can rationalise the obscenity of selling them, and that’s what this movie is saying. The higher you get by the way the greater the culpability, obviously you have a majority of good men but the organisation is beyond rotten to the core, There’s a guy in the movie called Father Thomas Doyle who is an activist for the victims and he’s trying to enlighten people as to just how awful and deceptive this crazy organisation is. Needless to say he was sacked immediately. It’s the villainy, the hypocrisy, the evil regime that must surely crumble in the end and must come up with something else. I f you want to be a Mother Theresa, if you want to be a Mary Whitehouse or whoever it happens to be, find something better than the Catholic Church.
Marion: Is it about this man or is it about the Church ?
Dave: Both, it’s completely about both, it’s not even implying the second thing I’m mentioning, it’s about the other thing and the absolute cover up. As I said this week, the pope who is 80 years of age going on about hell, I’m sure you read about it during the week, hell is still a big thing, fire and brimstone and all the rest, and they tell us that gay people will go to hell. Hell is the Catholic Church, if you look at it that’s just what it is. Now you have lived in the same Ireland in many ways as I have, and you’ve seen what’s happened over the last 15 years and to be perfectly honest the last 20 years and we see what’s been exposed. You’ve seen it in Letterfrack,you’ve seen it in the Magdalene laundries. There’s so much madness in there and so much cover up.
Marian: But I have to say to you, there is goodness…
Dave: Of course there’s great goodness in there, it’s a shame that the good people who want to do great good in the world do not have an organisation that can match their greatness, and obviously this is not the right one. I know a priest who went out to Africa and spent so much time there, and he died from the disease that he saved a hundred people from, I know loads of examples like that, loads of people who care for the sick and the poor etc,.This is a very hard movie to watch, I do think it is an important movie.
Marian Finucane: Is it an actor ?
Dave: No ,oh my God no, this is the point you see. Amy Berg tried to get the Church to release files and papers on certain people but of course it wouldn’t do that. Because of that and her resultant investigation she came across this guy who said he would speak,and he’s currently living in Ireland. I tell you, everybody who goes to see this movie is going to be very scared about this sort of thing because it’s a much bigger story than the story itself, there’s much more in the story.
Marian: How do you mean ?
Dave: First of all this guy isn’t a paedophile he’s a rapist and the reason he’s able to do his monstrous sexual abuse is because he’s a priest. Because of all that the Catholic church and the hierarchy will let him hide basically behind its organisation and this ridiculous thing about cardinal law, and every other damn stupid thing it talks about. Like this week the pope is going on about hell, hell is the Catholic Church according to this movie and anybody who comes out thinking anything else will be just like, idiotic.
Marian: What happened ?
Dave: He abused hundreds of kids, some of the detail you do not want to know, so I’ll give you a little - the youngest (abused) was 9 months, one person in this movie was abused from the age of 5-15,she’s in a terrible state in the movie , her father is saying God doesn’t exist anymore, you can see her breaking down in the backround.It so makes your blood boil, it so makes you think that every(cinema) ticket you get should be given with one of those(sick) bags you get in an aeroplane, because really you wont feel the same when you come out of it. But the fundamental problem is, if you just want to take just one individual, which is Oliver O’Grady and don’t want to tarnish the hundreds of great people who have joined the priesthood, that’s all very well. But those people who have joined the priesthood have joined an organisation that is evil incarnate. That is the problem.
Marian: Why do you say its evil ?
Dave: Because look at the movie you’ll see this, the amount of cover up that’s going on. First of all the amount of exposure that we’ve seen over the last bunch of years, has anything really been done, has recompense really happened, have apologies really taken place? Have people said this is wrong, this is the way it shouldn’t be ? Remember the Catholic Church in Rome is one of the biggest most successful corporations in the entire universe, your Enrons and Exrons are in the halfpenny place compared to this crowd. We think we’ve heard an awful lot of explaining about the scandals and sexual abuse of priests but most of the detail is hidden behind all sorts of secrecy and shame. The sexual act outside of marriage is abuse, therefore confess it and you’re forgiven. So the arrogance of the Catholic authorities who hide these crimes allowing child rape because their mission is above sin. Also Cardinal O’Mahoney is the main guy in California, he knew about this because he had been told a hundred times. He moved your man(Oliver O’Grady) on countless times, usually 50 miles further to, in the movie it is called the parishes, but when you come out you realise they were his victims, to a new bunch of victims, he moves him to a new bunch of victims. Why?…because any kind of scandal would have impeded his(O’Mahoney)rise in the Church, and that’s the way it is. This is like a fact movie there’s no narrative, the director isn’t there trying to tell you this ,it literally tells the story as it is. It’s a microcosm of so many other examples right across the board - we’ve had the Boston one, the Canadian one, we’ve had the Irish one, this is the Californian one and a lot of other places in the world. The implication in the movie is that this rife and rampant all over the place. The business of saving souls basically can rationalise the obscenity of selling them, and that’s what this movie is saying. The higher you get by the way the greater the culpability, obviously you have a majority of good men but the organisation is beyond rotten to the core, There’s a guy in the movie called Father Thomas Doyle who is an activist for the victims and he’s trying to enlighten people as to just how awful and deceptive this crazy organisation is. Needless to say he was sacked immediately. It’s the villainy, the hypocrisy, the evil regime that must surely crumble in the end and must come up with something else. I f you want to be a Mother Theresa, if you want to be a Mary Whitehouse or whoever it happens to be, find something better than the Catholic Church.
Marion: Is it about this man or is it about the Church ?
Dave: Both, it’s completely about both, it’s not even implying the second thing I’m mentioning, it’s about the other thing and the absolute cover up. As I said this week, the pope who is 80 years of age going on about hell, I’m sure you read about it during the week, hell is still a big thing, fire and brimstone and all the rest, and they tell us that gay people will go to hell. Hell is the Catholic Church, if you look at it that’s just what it is. Now you have lived in the same Ireland in many ways as I have, and you’ve seen what’s happened over the last 15 years and to be perfectly honest the last 20 years and we see what’s been exposed. You’ve seen it in Letterfrack,you’ve seen it in the Magdalene laundries. There’s so much madness in there and so much cover up.
Marian: But I have to say to you, there is goodness…
Dave: Of course there’s great goodness in there, it’s a shame that the good people who want to do great good in the world do not have an organisation that can match their greatness, and obviously this is not the right one. I know a priest who went out to Africa and spent so much time there, and he died from the disease that he saved a hundred people from, I know loads of examples like that, loads of people who care for the sick and the poor etc,.This is a very hard movie to watch, I do think it is an important movie.
--------more info on this movie...http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814075/
2 comments:
these are strong words by Fanning ,you can just heasr the anger bristling through.
My own experience of the clerical system has been a nightmare...good on ye Dave these guys have got away with murder !
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