Silence in the House of God is a horrific account of stolen youth, rather than death, we as viewers are witness to the horrors of child molestation within the Catholic Church. The film directed by Alex Gibney, builds its case through the story of four deaf men that as children were molested by the priest that administered their local parish and school in Milwaukee. Much of their life they had fought for their voices to be heard in a religious community that was very much built against them.
As with the many stories we hear of whistle blowers, their path to justice and closure is never an easy one and this film paints a damning picture of the handling of cases such as those found in that small town of Milwaukee, and others found around the world. The most damning evidence to the Church's blatant disregard for the victims, was the extent to which the senior hierarchy, including the recently resigned Pope Benedict, was aware, and how it willingly turned a blind eye. Causing further anguish was the absence of necessary action taken to prevent these crimes from happening again.
This film now holds particular relevance for Australian audiences with the upcoming royal commission into child sex abuse and also now looking forward, how the church in the 21 century, will handle this issue today. This is a powerful film with important revelations and questions, Gibney is able to shock audiences without resorting to overly emotive scenes depicting the abuses but by relying on the testimony of his brave four figures. With these elements and effective editing Gibney is able to present an ultimately fair and factually based account of this all to common issue, a definite must see.
Darcy.
