Silence in the House of God: Mea Maxima Culpa

0:00:03 > 0:00:10This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find disturbing.

0:01:45 > 0:01:48When I first entered St John's, I loved it.

0:01:50 > 0:01:52The campus of that school was beautiful.

0:01:59 > 0:02:01Such magnificent stonework.

0:02:04 > 0:02:06It was like a castle.

0:02:10 > 0:02:12I loved that school.

0:02:15 > 0:02:18Our school had a magnificent statue of Jesus Christ

0:02:18 > 0:02:21with his hands lovingly placed on the heads of two children.

0:02:23 > 0:02:25I could see that Jesus loved children.

0:02:25 > 0:02:28And the children loved Jesus too.

0:02:30 > 0:02:32My name is Gary Smith.

0:02:33 > 0:02:38It was four in 1954 and I really liked being at school.

0:02:38 > 0:02:40I liked being in the dorm.

0:02:40 > 0:02:42The dorm was cooler than being at home with my parents,

0:02:42 > 0:02:44because I didn't have any siblings.

0:02:46 > 0:02:48When I first got to the school, I loved it,

0:02:48 > 0:02:50because there were so many children

0:02:50 > 0:02:52around the same age as me who I could play with

0:02:52 > 0:02:55and they were good people, it was a good group of friends.

0:02:57 > 0:03:00In 1953, I was four years old.

0:03:00 > 0:03:03I remember when I got there, I couldn't stop crying.

0:03:04 > 0:03:06Then, I was looking up at a nun,

0:03:06 > 0:03:08she was wearing her black-and-white robes.

0:03:10 > 0:03:14I was looking at the nun and my parents left.

0:03:28 > 0:03:31Every morning, we'd have mass.

0:03:31 > 0:03:33A priest would use incense

0:03:33 > 0:03:35and the smell would fill the room.

0:03:38 > 0:03:40I felt like we were in heaven.

0:03:46 > 0:03:49I wanted to be a Catholic, like everyone else.

0:03:49 > 0:03:53And so, when I was ten, Father Murphy baptised me.

0:03:58 > 0:04:00Murphy would hug children.

0:04:00 > 0:04:03All the kids just loved him, they always flocked to him.

0:04:03 > 0:04:06He would play with the kids and the nuns would stand around

0:04:06 > 0:04:08just watching and smiling.

0:04:08 > 0:04:10I wanted Murphy's attention, like all the other kids.

0:04:10 > 0:04:13I needed him, he was like a second father to me.

0:04:15 > 0:04:17Father Murphy knew how to sign

0:04:17 > 0:04:20and he could communicate with all the kids.

0:04:22 > 0:04:26He was a hearing man who could sign and sign very well.

0:04:26 > 0:04:29I remember looking at him and thinking,

0:04:29 > 0:04:31"Wow, that's really impressive."

0:04:36 > 0:04:40Lawrence Murphy was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

0:04:40 > 0:04:43and entered the St Francis Seminary in 1943.

0:04:46 > 0:04:50After he was ordained as a priest in 1950,

0:04:50 > 0:04:54he moved next door on assignment to St John's School For The Deaf.

0:04:56 > 0:04:59He had a knack for public speaking and fundraising

0:04:59 > 0:05:01and, by 1963, he was promoted

0:05:01 > 0:05:03to director of St John's.

0:05:07 > 0:05:09After Father Murphy baptised me,

0:05:09 > 0:05:12I felt proud, I felt better.

0:05:12 > 0:05:16I was excited and couldn't wait to have my first communion when I was 12.

0:05:24 > 0:05:27Later on, I got into trouble at school.

0:05:27 > 0:05:31I was mischievous and the nuns would come and say,

0:05:31 > 0:05:34"Go to Father's room."

0:05:34 > 0:05:35And so, I did.

0:05:51 > 0:05:55In the confessional booth, there was a dividing wall.

0:05:57 > 0:06:01But there was a little space that you could see his face through.

0:06:04 > 0:06:08So you could sign back and forth.

0:06:08 > 0:06:09And he would bless you.

0:06:17 > 0:06:20I filled out the confession form.

0:06:20 > 0:06:25The form listed stealing, lying, sex and things like that.

0:06:25 > 0:06:28I would mark things off and turn it in.

0:06:30 > 0:06:34Father Murphy looked at it and then asked me really weird questions like,

0:06:34 > 0:06:36"Have you been with other boys?"

0:06:36 > 0:06:40He asked me, "Have you been playing with your penis?"

0:06:40 > 0:06:41And I told him, "No."

0:06:42 > 0:06:44But he gave me one of his looks.

0:06:46 > 0:06:51And it scared me. So I admitted that, yeah, I play with myself.

0:06:52 > 0:06:56He told me to pull down my pants and to do it right there.

0:06:56 > 0:06:59So I played with myself for a little bit.

0:07:01 > 0:07:04He watched me intently until I was done.

0:07:04 > 0:07:06Then, he told me that God forgave me

0:07:06 > 0:07:10and I felt like my sins had been wiped away.

0:07:13 > 0:07:15He could have been playing with himself for all I know,

0:07:15 > 0:07:17but I couldn't see.

0:07:25 > 0:07:29I remember one afternoon I went to Murphy's office

0:07:29 > 0:07:33and he closed the door and he told me to take off my pants.

0:07:34 > 0:07:37And I said, "Take off my pants?"

0:07:37 > 0:07:41I was shocked. And I thought, "Why would I have to do that?"

0:07:41 > 0:07:45And I was looking at this man in a black suit, the white-collar,

0:07:45 > 0:07:50and I thought to myself, "He's a priest and I'm supposed to obey him."

0:07:50 > 0:07:54So I took my pants down and he molested me.

0:07:57 > 0:08:01I felt sick and confused.

0:08:01 > 0:08:03"Why would a priest do that to me?

0:08:03 > 0:08:08"Is this supposed to be OK? Did I do something wrong?" I didn't know.

0:08:08 > 0:08:09After it happened, I just left.

0:08:13 > 0:08:15And I just kept it to myself.

0:08:19 > 0:08:22I was a monk, I was a very pious monk.

0:08:22 > 0:08:25I folded my hands, kept my eyes down, did my studies.

0:08:25 > 0:08:27I lived in the system.

0:08:29 > 0:08:33Richard Sipe spent 18 years as a Benedictine monk.

0:08:33 > 0:08:37He was also a therapist counselling his fellow priests.

0:08:37 > 0:08:44Sex in celibacy became central to my research and understanding.

0:08:44 > 0:08:47Sipe began what became a 25-year study

0:08:47 > 0:08:50examining celibacy in the priesthood.

0:08:50 > 0:08:57My intent was that this would help in the training of priests.

0:08:57 > 0:08:59I felt that I could make a contribution

0:08:59 > 0:09:02by being honest about it.

0:09:04 > 0:09:06The data showed that at any one time,

0:09:06 > 0:09:12no more than 50% of American Roman Catholic priests were practising celibacy.

0:09:12 > 0:09:15There were certain levels of experimentation,

0:09:15 > 0:09:17relationships, involvement

0:09:17 > 0:09:21and even criminal involvement with children.

0:09:21 > 0:09:25And the more I got into it, the more and more discouraged I got.

0:09:27 > 0:09:31They know that celibacy is not practised.

0:09:31 > 0:09:34By "they", I mean Vatican authorities,

0:09:34 > 0:09:37I mean bishops, I mean religious superiors.

0:09:37 > 0:09:40And the higher you go, the more they know.

0:09:42 > 0:09:44You may not be keeping your celibacy,

0:09:44 > 0:09:47but as long as it's secret, it's OK.

0:09:50 > 0:09:52Sipe found that clericalism,

0:09:52 > 0:09:55setting a priest on a pedestal above ordinary lay people,

0:09:55 > 0:09:57helped to prop up the secret system.

0:09:57 > 0:10:00Kids would come forward to their parents and say,

0:10:00 > 0:10:02"Well, Father did this to me."

0:10:02 > 0:10:06"Oh, don't you say that! You can't say that about a priest!"

0:10:06 > 0:10:12Which then allowed priests to express themselves sexually,

0:10:12 > 0:10:17some from time to time and some in horrendous ways.

0:10:18 > 0:10:23Sipe recognised the syndrome that police call Noble Cause Corruption -

0:10:23 > 0:10:26a belief that good intentions purify bad behaviour.

0:10:26 > 0:10:30For a priest, belief in his own goodness can transform,

0:10:30 > 0:10:33like turning bread into the body of Christ,

0:10:33 > 0:10:36a perversion into a holy act.

0:10:37 > 0:10:41A priest who had an affair with this 12, 13-year-old girl

0:10:41 > 0:10:47brought to one of their encounters what he said was a consecrated host

0:10:47 > 0:10:51and he touched it to her vagina and he said,

0:10:51 > 0:10:53"This is how God loves you."

0:10:53 > 0:10:55And then, he raped her.

0:10:56 > 0:10:59It goes from just this broad social acceptance

0:10:59 > 0:11:01that the priest is perfect, the Pope is perfect,

0:11:01 > 0:11:07to this kind of perversion of power that can be twisted in this way.

0:11:10 > 0:11:13The system of the Catholic clergy,

0:11:13 > 0:11:15for which I have great respect

0:11:15 > 0:11:18and to which I have given many years of my life,

0:11:18 > 0:11:23selects, cultivates, protects,

0:11:23 > 0:11:28defends and produces sexual abusers.

0:12:01 > 0:12:05I went to bed one night and, before I fell asleep,

0:12:05 > 0:12:08I could see Murphy creeping into our room,

0:12:08 > 0:12:10like a ravenous wolf.

0:12:15 > 0:12:17I could see him sit on a bed

0:12:17 > 0:12:21in the dim light of the illuminated exit sign.

0:12:21 > 0:12:23And I saw that he was molesting a boy.

0:12:27 > 0:12:30I imagined Jesus crying on the cross with a broken heart

0:12:30 > 0:12:32wondering why Murphy was doing this.

0:12:34 > 0:12:37Why was Jesus just watching?

0:12:40 > 0:12:42He would walk in like a cat.

0:12:42 > 0:12:45Of course we couldn't hear him, but someone would open their eyes

0:12:45 > 0:12:49and see a dark shadow passing by and they knew it was him.

0:12:50 > 0:12:53I would see how he would go and pick out certain boys.

0:12:53 > 0:12:58He knew which boys wouldn't object if he went to them.

0:13:00 > 0:13:04The boys noticed that Father Murphy would single out students

0:13:04 > 0:13:07with hearing parents who couldn't sign

0:13:07 > 0:13:09so that the children couldn't tell their parents

0:13:09 > 0:13:11what was happening to them.

0:13:14 > 0:13:16He favoured me. He wanted me.

0:13:18 > 0:13:20He liked seeing me ejaculate.

0:13:20 > 0:13:24He got what he wanted and he would leave, that was his thing.

0:13:24 > 0:13:26He was...

0:13:26 > 0:13:27sick.

0:13:31 > 0:13:33I was afraid to tell my mother

0:13:33 > 0:13:36because I didn't think she would believe me.

0:13:36 > 0:13:40She'd say, "A priest would never do something like that to children."

0:13:40 > 0:13:42I kept it a secret.

0:13:43 > 0:13:46My mother had already been through so much pain.

0:13:46 > 0:13:49My brother had been electrocuted,

0:13:49 > 0:13:51my father had hung himself.

0:13:51 > 0:13:55My mother had been through so much pain and I didn't want to hurt her.

0:14:01 > 0:14:04It was hard for me to communicate with my father

0:14:04 > 0:14:09and so, my dad would speak and Father Murphy would interpret.

0:14:09 > 0:14:11My father never wrote back and forth

0:14:11 > 0:14:14because I didn't know how to write well,

0:14:14 > 0:14:18so I depended on Father Murphy and the nuns

0:14:18 > 0:14:20to communicate with my father.

0:14:21 > 0:14:24My parents were hearing, so we used home signs,

0:14:24 > 0:14:26not true American Sign Language.

0:14:26 > 0:14:30We had some gestures for things like eating and for how the scolded me,

0:14:30 > 0:14:32but they wouldn't actually sign "Bad",

0:14:32 > 0:14:34they would wag their finger at me.

0:14:34 > 0:14:37And there was no TTY, and my parents were far away,

0:14:37 > 0:14:40so how could we possibly have communicated?

0:14:42 > 0:14:44Murphy took advantage

0:14:44 > 0:14:45of children in that situation.

0:14:50 > 0:14:54My question is, what about the sisters?

0:14:54 > 0:14:58Where were the nuns who were supposed to be watching the children?

0:15:00 > 0:15:02The nuns should have been able to hear,

0:15:02 > 0:15:05but they turned their heads and looked the other way.

0:15:08 > 0:15:09Murphy wasn't the only one

0:15:09 > 0:15:12that nuns should have heard creeping through the dorms at night.

0:15:12 > 0:15:17Murphy enlisted older boys in an organised system of abuse.

0:15:17 > 0:15:19One of these was Tom Tannehill,

0:15:19 > 0:15:23a high-school student who had been molested by Murphy.

0:15:23 > 0:15:26As a dorm supervisor, Tom had used threats of discipline

0:15:26 > 0:15:30to force victim to perform oral sex on him.

0:15:30 > 0:15:34Pat Kuehn was only seven when Tom first molested him.

0:15:34 > 0:15:38He now believes that Tom was breaking him in for Murphy.

0:15:41 > 0:15:43I was very innocent, naive.

0:15:43 > 0:15:48After the first time Tom played with me, I got used to it.

0:15:49 > 0:15:53I felt so excited that he chose me out of all the others.

0:15:53 > 0:15:55It made me feel special.

0:16:02 > 0:16:05Bambi was the first movie that I watched with captioning.

0:16:07 > 0:16:08Which was really exciting.

0:16:10 > 0:16:14I was sitting towards the back of the audience, on the boys' side,

0:16:14 > 0:16:18Father Murphy walked up behind me and pushed me in the back of the head.

0:16:18 > 0:16:23So I looked up and I waived because I thought he was just saying hi.

0:16:23 > 0:16:26And then, I went back to watching.

0:16:26 > 0:16:30And he nudged me again, so I acknowledged him.

0:16:30 > 0:16:31I think about it now

0:16:31 > 0:16:34and it was probably his penis bumping up against me.

0:16:34 > 0:16:36He was playing with me.

0:16:43 > 0:16:47In 1963, Father Murphy went away for a few weeks.

0:16:48 > 0:16:49During his absence,

0:16:49 > 0:16:52there was a visiting priest from Chicago named Father Walsh.

0:16:54 > 0:16:58I could see Father Walsh signing and I was watching him

0:16:58 > 0:17:01and I thought, "You know what? I'm going to try my best to tell him."

0:17:01 > 0:17:03I think it was in confession.

0:17:03 > 0:17:07And so, I told Father Walsh about Father Murphy molesting me.

0:17:07 > 0:17:11He didn't say anything, but I could see his facial expression change.

0:17:12 > 0:17:16A week went by and I knew his last day was going to be Friday

0:17:16 > 0:17:19and Father Murphy had come back.

0:17:19 > 0:17:21Father Murphy comes walking into my classroom

0:17:21 > 0:17:24and called Father Walsh.

0:17:24 > 0:17:27When I saw that, I knew this was it.

0:17:27 > 0:17:28I got up from my chair

0:17:28 > 0:17:31and I went and peeked around the coroner from my classroom.

0:17:31 > 0:17:35I could see Father Walsh and Father Murphy getting into a huge fight down the hallway.

0:17:36 > 0:17:40I went back and sat at my desk and I didn't say a word about it.

0:17:41 > 0:17:44Murphy came back and nothing was ever said.

0:17:46 > 0:17:49The following year, I was hoping Father Walsh would return,

0:17:49 > 0:17:50but he didn't come back.

0:17:50 > 0:17:55He didn't come back the second year, he didn't come back the third year,

0:17:55 > 0:17:56he just never came back.

0:18:05 > 0:18:07During the summer months,

0:18:07 > 0:18:10Murphy would take some of the boys up to his cabin,

0:18:10 > 0:18:11in northern Wisconsin.

0:18:12 > 0:18:15Murphy would ask the boys to choose

0:18:15 > 0:18:18which one of them would sleep in the bed with him.

0:18:18 > 0:18:20Father Murphy asked who was going to sleep with him

0:18:20 > 0:18:23and all of us pointed at this kid, Joe, and said, "He is."

0:18:23 > 0:18:25I didn't want to be picked.

0:18:25 > 0:18:27Poor Joe, I feel bad that we picked him.

0:18:30 > 0:18:33When Murphy took Gary and the other seniors on a road trip

0:18:33 > 0:18:36to look at colleges in Washington and New York,

0:18:36 > 0:18:39he molested Gary almost every night.

0:18:39 > 0:18:42I was afraid if I said "No", he would be mad.

0:18:42 > 0:18:44I just didn't know what to do.

0:18:44 > 0:18:46I got used to it and didn't care.

0:18:46 > 0:18:49I just wanted to graduate and get out of there and feel better.

0:19:00 > 0:19:05You know, between the ages of 26 and 31, I was baptised

0:19:05 > 0:19:06in a very radical way

0:19:06 > 0:19:09to know that this wasn't an anomaly,

0:19:09 > 0:19:10that this was a pattern,

0:19:10 > 0:19:14that there are treatment centres.

0:19:14 > 0:19:15Before ordination,

0:19:15 > 0:19:19I had no idea that we had treatment centres around the world

0:19:19 > 0:19:22for priests to go to when they sexually molested,

0:19:22 > 0:19:23raped and sodomised kids.

0:19:23 > 0:19:25I didn't know that.

0:19:25 > 0:19:27My parents didn't know that.

0:19:28 > 0:19:32I didn't know that we had 55 molesters in my monastery.

0:19:32 > 0:19:35I didn't know there were more than 70 molesters

0:19:35 > 0:19:37operating in the US dioceses.

0:19:37 > 0:19:39That wasn't public knowledge.

0:19:40 > 0:19:41Shortly after his ordination,

0:19:41 > 0:19:45at St John's Abbey, in Collegeville, Minnesota,

0:19:45 > 0:19:48Patrick Wall was given a special assignment -

0:19:48 > 0:19:53travelling the country putting out fires for the Church.

0:19:53 > 0:19:56The sexually abusive priest has to be completely removed,

0:19:56 > 0:19:59his stuff was removed, and then, there's another guy,

0:19:59 > 0:20:02basically, another black-and-white who's placed in there,

0:20:02 > 0:20:04to make sure that the normal things happen -

0:20:04 > 0:20:07that people are baptised, people are married, people are buried

0:20:07 > 0:20:10and the normal life of the parish can continue.

0:20:11 > 0:20:14I thought I was going there to uncover the crime,

0:20:14 > 0:20:16to heal the wounds,

0:20:16 > 0:20:18I thought it was pastoral care,

0:20:18 > 0:20:20you know, comfort the afflicted, what we're ordained for.

0:20:20 > 0:20:25But the people sending me in obviously had ulterior motives.

0:20:27 > 0:20:29You know, they would give you authorisation

0:20:29 > 0:20:31up to 250,000 to settle a case

0:20:31 > 0:20:34if you could get a confidentiality order.

0:20:35 > 0:20:38And, in 1995, we had a budget of 7 million

0:20:38 > 0:20:42to handle the various problems of childhood sexual abuse.

0:20:44 > 0:20:46And most people don't want to have anything go public.

0:20:46 > 0:20:50I mean, in the Catholic mindset, you don't sue the Church.

0:20:50 > 0:20:53They want to know that it's going to stop.

0:20:54 > 0:20:56When Wall found out that it didn't stop,

0:20:56 > 0:20:59that offending priests were allowed to stay in ministry,

0:20:59 > 0:21:01he left the priesthood.

0:21:02 > 0:21:04That was part of your brief,

0:21:04 > 0:21:07to report these things to the local authorities?

0:21:07 > 0:21:09Never.

0:21:10 > 0:21:12That's the worldwide policy -

0:21:12 > 0:21:13to snuff out scandal.

0:21:39 > 0:21:42Bob Bolger was another student who was abused at St John's

0:21:42 > 0:21:45by Father Murphy.

0:21:45 > 0:21:46After graduating from college,

0:21:46 > 0:21:49he began hanging out with Arthur and Gary

0:21:49 > 0:21:51and found an unexpected way back

0:21:51 > 0:21:53to memories of St John's.

0:22:08 > 0:22:11HE PANTS

0:22:12 > 0:22:16I started getting these revelations, these memories.

0:22:21 > 0:22:24Finally, I woke up and I was furious

0:22:24 > 0:22:27and the more we worked on it, the angrier I got.

0:22:27 > 0:22:30I had kept this quiet for so long

0:22:30 > 0:22:32and not said anything to anyone.

0:22:34 > 0:22:36It suddenly hit me just how wrong this was.

0:22:37 > 0:22:42And Bob was like, "Go to the police station, now, go!"

0:22:42 > 0:22:44And Gary was thrown off guard.

0:22:44 > 0:22:47And Bob said, "If you're angry, Gary, then go.

0:22:47 > 0:22:49"Go to the police station. Now, go!"

0:22:52 > 0:22:55We went out to the police station and went in.

0:22:55 > 0:22:58Bob was writing back and forth with the officer

0:22:58 > 0:22:59because he had good English skills.

0:23:01 > 0:23:04And then, two police officers told us to stay in a room.

0:23:06 > 0:23:08And we waited and waited and waited.

0:23:09 > 0:23:13And I went to open the door and the door was locked.

0:23:13 > 0:23:18And then, two detectives came into the room and said, "You can go."

0:23:18 > 0:23:21And we were all excited about being able to leave.

0:23:21 > 0:23:25And guessing that the detectives had already talked to Murphy.

0:23:28 > 0:23:30We waited for a week to go by,

0:23:30 > 0:23:32then another week went by and then another.

0:23:32 > 0:23:36We didn't hear a thing. It was just sickening.

0:23:36 > 0:23:41Murphy had told them that it wasn't true and the kids were making it up.

0:23:41 > 0:23:43That we were just little troublemakers.

0:23:44 > 0:23:46It started to bother me more and more

0:23:46 > 0:23:49because I was hearing that he was molesting other kids.

0:23:49 > 0:23:52I was mad and I wanted to protect these deaf kids.

0:23:52 > 0:23:56And it was time to do something about it. And we did.

0:24:00 > 0:24:02We didn't put the reason why on the flyer,

0:24:02 > 0:24:05we just wanted it to be a warning to people.

0:24:06 > 0:24:08When the school would hold a fundraiser,

0:24:08 > 0:24:11they'd go to the cars that were parked at the school

0:24:11 > 0:24:13and they would put this flyer,

0:24:13 > 0:24:17you know, don't give money to this man because he abuses these kids.

0:24:17 > 0:24:21I was shocked and I tried to advise Bob

0:24:21 > 0:24:25that, you know, this was not really the way to fix this.

0:24:28 > 0:24:31He was caught up in the era of activism

0:24:31 > 0:24:33and he was really trying to get deaf people

0:24:33 > 0:24:35to kind of stand up for themselves.

0:24:37 > 0:24:41At John Conway's suggestion, they hired a lawyer

0:24:41 > 0:24:44and began collecting sworn affidavits from Murphy's victims.

0:24:44 > 0:24:47The idea was to submit these affidavits,

0:24:47 > 0:24:49which were very graphic and very clear,

0:24:49 > 0:24:54to Archbishop Cousins and then, we thought the matter would be finished,

0:24:54 > 0:24:57we thought that the priest would be removed from the school.

0:24:58 > 0:25:01The Church's response was silence.

0:25:02 > 0:25:04Determined to make their voices heard,

0:25:04 > 0:25:08Bob, Arthur and Gary went to the Milwaukee Cathedral

0:25:08 > 0:25:10and handed out their flyers to passers-by.

0:25:11 > 0:25:15Suddenly, they were granted a meeting with Archbishop Cousins.

0:25:15 > 0:25:17The Archbishop was there, Father Murphy was there.

0:25:17 > 0:25:20In fact, Father Murphy sat right next to me.

0:25:20 > 0:25:23He would look down, look around,

0:25:23 > 0:25:25he was not going to make eye contact with us.

0:25:27 > 0:25:30In the group were two priests.

0:25:30 > 0:25:35They were described by the Archbishop as members of the Vatican.

0:25:35 > 0:25:37And the Archbishop thanked us for bringing this matter

0:25:37 > 0:25:39to the attention of the Archdiocese.

0:25:39 > 0:25:42He allowed that this problem had existed before,

0:25:42 > 0:25:45and he mentioned that back as far as 1960,

0:25:45 > 0:25:47this matter had been addressed.

0:25:48 > 0:25:51Cousins would deny having said this,

0:25:51 > 0:25:54but an investigation revealed that, even before 1960,

0:25:54 > 0:25:58Father Walsh had tried to do something about Murphy.

0:25:58 > 0:26:01Having heard complaints from Arthur and from other students,

0:26:01 > 0:26:04Walsh reported the accusations to Cousins' predecessor,

0:26:04 > 0:26:06Archbishop Meyer.

0:26:06 > 0:26:09Meyer went to Murphy and he confessed to the abuse,

0:26:09 > 0:26:12but Murphy was not dismissed.

0:26:12 > 0:26:14He went away in a short retreat

0:26:14 > 0:26:16before being invited back

0:26:16 > 0:26:19to supervise children at St John's.

0:26:20 > 0:26:23Other deaf people had told Father Walsh

0:26:23 > 0:26:26and then, Father Walsh told Meyer in 1957.

0:26:26 > 0:26:29And then, I said something in 1963.

0:26:32 > 0:26:35It turned out that Walsh had made the same report

0:26:35 > 0:26:37to the office of the Papal Nuncio,

0:26:37 > 0:26:40the Vatican Ambassador in Washington DC.

0:26:41 > 0:26:44So by this meeting, in 1974,

0:26:44 > 0:26:48the Vatican had known about Murphy for almost 20 years.

0:26:48 > 0:26:52This was known and it had been dealt with in the past.

0:26:52 > 0:26:57We immediately said Father Murphy has to be removed from the school.

0:26:57 > 0:27:01Murphy said, "No, I take care of the budget and the money and everything."

0:27:01 > 0:27:03And Archbishop Cousins got very angry.

0:27:03 > 0:27:06He started scolding and arguing with us.

0:27:06 > 0:27:09I'm thinking, "Wow, I can't believe this. Where was his compassion?

0:27:09 > 0:27:12"Where was his wanting to listen to this?"

0:27:12 > 0:27:15So we eventually kind of walked out, the Archbishop's saying to me

0:27:15 > 0:27:18that he was very upset because he thought he was dealing

0:27:18 > 0:27:20with a person of good faith.

0:27:21 > 0:27:25I told him I thought I was dealing with a person of good faith as well.

0:27:30 > 0:27:35When deposed years later Archbishop Cousins recalled the meeting,

0:27:35 > 0:27:39he said that, at the time, he did not find the allegations credible.

0:27:39 > 0:27:43He had conducted an investigation and found no proof.

0:27:43 > 0:27:45When asked what steps he had taken

0:27:45 > 0:27:48to determine the veracity of the allegations,

0:27:48 > 0:27:51Cousins said that he had interviewed Murphy and the school staff.

0:27:53 > 0:27:55When the lawyer asked if he had interviewed students,

0:27:55 > 0:27:59Cousins admitted that he hadn't bothered to talk to them.

0:27:59 > 0:28:02"After all," he said, "The students are deaf."

0:28:07 > 0:28:11Bob Bolger, Gary and I went to the Milwaukee Courthouse downtown.

0:28:11 > 0:28:14And we started handing out these flyers.

0:28:14 > 0:28:17And all the hearing people were shocked.

0:28:22 > 0:28:25And Bob put the flyer on DA Michael McCann's desk.

0:28:27 > 0:28:29Nobody talked to us, we said nothing,

0:28:29 > 0:28:31we just kept handing them out.

0:28:31 > 0:28:35The DA's office took notice of the flyers

0:28:35 > 0:28:39and granted the men a meeting with then Assistant DA Bill Gardner.

0:28:39 > 0:28:44Gardner went out to St John's to question students in the senior boys' dormitory.

0:28:44 > 0:28:48They met in our dorm, about six of the boys.

0:28:48 > 0:28:51The meeting only lasted about 15, 20 minutes,

0:28:51 > 0:28:54cos they all said, "No, no, nothing is going on."

0:28:54 > 0:28:56And it didn't take long, it was over.

0:28:56 > 0:28:57I was kind of surprised,

0:28:57 > 0:28:59cos two of the gentlemen in the dorm

0:28:59 > 0:29:02loved to argue and debate anything

0:29:02 > 0:29:05and they were quiet as a church mouse.

0:29:05 > 0:29:07Gary, Bob and Arthur believed

0:29:07 > 0:29:09that their charges were not taken seriously

0:29:09 > 0:29:13because McCann and Gardner were devout Catholics.

0:29:13 > 0:29:16With no active students willing to come forward,

0:29:16 > 0:29:18the brief investigation ended.

0:29:18 > 0:29:21McCann's office said they did not investigate past claims

0:29:21 > 0:29:24because of the Statute Of Limitations.

0:29:25 > 0:29:28The DA's office never brought charges against Murphy,

0:29:28 > 0:29:32but at the school, the matter was not forgotten.

0:29:32 > 0:29:36One of the gentlemen in the dorm had come by the door to my room,

0:29:36 > 0:29:38it was about 10.30, 11 at night.

0:29:38 > 0:29:42And he said, "We want to talk to you about Murphy."

0:29:42 > 0:29:45You know, that's when they opened up about some of the stuff.

0:29:46 > 0:29:51So I did call the Archbishop's office and I just said,

0:29:51 > 0:29:54"I have some stuff on the Father Murphy case

0:29:54 > 0:29:57"that I think the Archbishop needs to hear."

0:29:57 > 0:30:00He and I just met alone and I told him,

0:30:00 > 0:30:03"Father Murphy admitted to me that he is molesting boys,"

0:30:03 > 0:30:06I said, "I have dates and times"

0:30:06 > 0:30:09and I said, "I'm going to go to the parents."

0:30:11 > 0:30:13Almost immediately, it was announced

0:30:13 > 0:30:18that Father Murphy would leave St John's for health reasons.

0:30:18 > 0:30:20The writer for the Milwaukee Sentinel who covered the story

0:30:20 > 0:30:23included the allegations against Murphy in her draft.

0:30:25 > 0:30:28But the newspaper's editor removed any mention of sexual abuse.

0:30:30 > 0:30:34Terry had just returned to St John's to teach history

0:30:34 > 0:30:37after graduating from Gallaudet University.

0:30:37 > 0:30:39With his new Super 8 camera,

0:30:39 > 0:30:41he filmed Murphy's departure.

0:30:41 > 0:30:44I remember filming Murphy leaving

0:30:44 > 0:30:46and knowing that Murphy was a paedophile.

0:30:46 > 0:30:50The children thought that Murphy was leaving because of health reasons,

0:30:50 > 0:30:53but I knew he was leaving because he had molested children.

0:31:11 > 0:31:14The children lined up to shake his hand.

0:31:15 > 0:31:19And through tears, Murphy said goodbye to each of them.

0:31:40 > 0:31:43Father Fitzgerald started out as a priest in Boston

0:31:43 > 0:31:46and priests come to him who have sexually offended,

0:31:46 > 0:31:49so he knows he needs to do something.

0:31:49 > 0:31:51He formed an order, the Order of the Paracletes

0:31:51 > 0:31:55in order to treat paedophile priests.

0:31:56 > 0:31:59The first Servants of the Paraclete treatment centre

0:31:59 > 0:32:03was opened in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, in 1947.

0:32:03 > 0:32:06Father Fitzgerald did not believe in psychology or counselling.

0:32:06 > 0:32:09He favoured spiritual treatment,

0:32:09 > 0:32:11hoping that sex offenders and alcoholics

0:32:11 > 0:32:15would find salvation on their knees, praying for mercy.

0:32:15 > 0:32:18But on one point Father Fitzgerald was absolutely clear -

0:32:18 > 0:32:21sexual predators should be defrocked

0:32:21 > 0:32:24or hidden from the faithful behind monastery walls.

0:32:24 > 0:32:29He came to the conclusion that priests who sexually abuse children are like vipers -

0:32:29 > 0:32:31you can never stop them.

0:32:31 > 0:32:35The only thing you can do is remove them from their target population

0:32:35 > 0:32:38and make them live a life of prayer and penance.

0:32:38 > 0:32:42He wrote to the Pope, he constantly wrote to bishops

0:32:42 > 0:32:44and he said, "Look, this is a terrible problem.

0:32:44 > 0:32:48"Paedophilia is infesting lots of seminaries,

0:32:48 > 0:32:50"you've got to do something about it."

0:32:50 > 0:32:53So, he thought, "Let's get an island!

0:32:53 > 0:32:55"You can't stop them, but you can contain them.

0:32:55 > 0:32:57"Let's get an island in the Caribbean."

0:33:00 > 0:33:03He sent a priest out, he was looking in Barbados,

0:33:03 > 0:33:07he was looking in various islands and they went ahead

0:33:07 > 0:33:11and they actually did begin the process to buy an island.

0:33:11 > 0:33:14It was the island of Carriacou, off the coast of Grenada,

0:33:14 > 0:33:18famous for its nutmeg and beautiful beaches.

0:33:18 > 0:33:22The Church put a 5,000 down payment on Carriacou,

0:33:22 > 0:33:27but Church superiors overruled the idea of an island for paedophile priests.

0:33:27 > 0:33:31Then, the Church hierarchy decided to change the policy of the Paracletes.

0:33:31 > 0:33:33Instead of removing priests from victims,

0:33:33 > 0:33:37the centres attempted to rehabilitate and recirculate them.

0:33:37 > 0:33:39From the 50s to the 90s,

0:33:39 > 0:33:41the Servants of the Paraclete spent 80 million

0:33:41 > 0:33:44treating more than 2,000 priests

0:33:44 > 0:33:47in special centres in Italy, France,

0:33:47 > 0:33:50Great Britain, Africa, South America and the Philippines.

0:34:00 > 0:34:03Lawrence Murphy retreated to his cabin in Boulder Junction,

0:34:03 > 0:34:06a small town in northern Wisconsin.

0:34:08 > 0:34:11He was assigned to a local church, St Anne's.

0:34:11 > 0:34:14But the parish was not told anything about Murphy's past.

0:34:16 > 0:34:18Murphy continued to abuse local children.

0:34:22 > 0:34:26Back in Milwaukee, Gary Smith decided to tell his father

0:34:26 > 0:34:30about the abuse he suffered as a teenager.

0:34:30 > 0:34:34John Conway did the interpreting and explained it to my father

0:34:34 > 0:34:36and he was very upset.

0:34:36 > 0:34:38And that's when my dad lost his temper

0:34:38 > 0:34:41and decided to contact a lawyer.

0:34:41 > 0:34:44They decided to file a lawsuit against the Archdiocese,

0:34:44 > 0:34:46the school and Father Murphy.

0:34:47 > 0:34:49Nuns from the school

0:34:49 > 0:34:52and other supporters of Father Murphy within the deaf community

0:34:52 > 0:34:54began showing up at Gary's apartment,

0:34:54 > 0:34:56pressuring him to drop the lawsuit.

0:34:58 > 0:35:01Then, mysteriously, the matter was settled.

0:35:01 > 0:35:05Father Murphy agreed to pay 500 for Gary's legal fees

0:35:05 > 0:35:09and St John's offered Gary the sum of a few thousand dollars for counselling.

0:35:09 > 0:35:11The deal was struck

0:35:11 > 0:35:14after a nun called Sister Martha Ann visited Gary,

0:35:14 > 0:35:16who had no-one to translate for him,

0:35:16 > 0:35:19and persuaded Gary to sign an unusual document

0:35:19 > 0:35:23in which he dropped the case and apologised to the Church.

0:35:23 > 0:35:26He, of course, is deaf and marginality literate.

0:35:26 > 0:35:32Not all deaf people are illiterate, but English is not their language.

0:35:32 > 0:35:35They coerced and tricked him into a settlement.

0:36:06 > 0:36:08Despite Gary's apology,

0:36:08 > 0:36:11the Church failed to pay the 5,000 for his therapy

0:36:11 > 0:36:13for 20 years.

0:36:20 > 0:36:25Father Doyle is an early whistleblower in the scandal.

0:36:25 > 0:36:28He's working for the Papal Nuncio in Washington,

0:36:28 > 0:36:33he's beginning to see some of the communication about these cases

0:36:33 > 0:36:36and is realising that it could be a bigger problem

0:36:36 > 0:36:40than just a couple bad apples, a bad priest here or there.

0:36:40 > 0:36:45He initially tries to work within Church channels

0:36:45 > 0:36:48and he thinks that there's going to be a response.

0:36:48 > 0:36:53When there isn't, he eventually becomes a public whistleblower.

0:36:55 > 0:36:59The attitude from the Vatican was, "We don't turn our priests in.

0:36:59 > 0:37:01"This is our problem, we take care of it,

0:37:01 > 0:37:03"you don't refer to the civil authorities

0:37:03 > 0:37:06"when they're committing felony crimes."

0:37:06 > 0:37:09Now, I don't know what they would have done if it would have been a slew of murders.

0:37:09 > 0:37:14He has remained in the Church while being both a critic of the Church

0:37:14 > 0:37:18and an expert witness in lawsuits against the Church.

0:37:18 > 0:37:20I first became aware of the Murphy case

0:37:20 > 0:37:23when it became publicly known

0:37:23 > 0:37:26and I was asked to evaluate some of the information.

0:37:27 > 0:37:31The Vatican knew that there'd been prior reports about Murphy,

0:37:31 > 0:37:32there was no conspiracy,

0:37:32 > 0:37:35but there was something far worse than a conspiracy.

0:37:35 > 0:37:39The very policy of keeping this absolutely secret,

0:37:39 > 0:37:41that was the policy.

0:37:41 > 0:37:45And the first regulations to keep these issues absolutely secret

0:37:45 > 0:37:48were issued in 1866 by the Vatican.

0:37:50 > 0:37:54Back in the 1980s, Father Doyle wrote that these cases

0:37:54 > 0:37:59were going to cost the Church eventually 1 billion.

0:37:59 > 0:38:02The last estimate is it's over 2 billion.

0:38:02 > 0:38:04So he was right.

0:38:05 > 0:38:06'Facing the crisis,

0:38:06 > 0:38:10'Catholics confront the sex abuse scandal on the very first day...'

0:38:10 > 0:38:13'NBC News In Depth tonight. Crisis in the Church...'

0:38:13 > 0:38:16'New details tonight about how the Boston Archdiocese handled the case

0:38:16 > 0:38:20'of a priest charged now with repeatedly raping a young boy.'

0:38:20 > 0:38:22'Tonight, another priest...'

0:38:22 > 0:38:25'John Geoghan, accused by more than 130 of abuse...'

0:38:25 > 0:38:28'Newly released documents show Boston Church officials knew...'

0:38:28 > 0:38:31'Cardinal Law knew of Shanley's alleged abusive behaviour,

0:38:31 > 0:38:33'but never informed legal authorities...'

0:38:33 > 0:38:36'Last month's life sentence given to Father John Hanlon

0:38:36 > 0:38:37'for raping a young boy

0:38:37 > 0:38:39'is the latest chapter in a scandal that is...'

0:38:39 > 0:38:42'Now, after the Church sex scandal first came to light in Boston,

0:38:42 > 0:38:45'thousands of victims across the country have gone public...'

0:38:45 > 0:38:47'This morning, the Pope has broken his silence

0:38:47 > 0:38:51'about the growing sexual abuse rocking the Catholic Church in the United States.'

0:38:51 > 0:38:54'Even President Bush weighed in yesterday saying he's confident

0:38:54 > 0:38:57'the Church will clean up its business and do the right thing.'

0:38:57 > 0:39:01DEMONSTRATORS: 'Law must go! Law must go!'

0:39:04 > 0:39:07Identified as a key figure who covered up sex abuse in Boston,

0:39:07 > 0:39:12Cardinal Law cost the Church tens of millions of dollars in settlements.

0:39:12 > 0:39:15But instead of being punished by the Vatican,

0:39:15 > 0:39:17Law was rewarded with a seven-year term

0:39:17 > 0:39:20at this magnificent basilica in Rome.

0:39:20 > 0:39:23It sends a pretty blatant message that victims aren't that important,

0:39:23 > 0:39:26but you've persecuted this poor cardinal.

0:39:26 > 0:39:28You know, he's suffered enough, now we've got to give him

0:39:28 > 0:39:31a nice cushy job to protect him.

0:39:31 > 0:39:34One of the things that Vatican officials had tried to do

0:39:34 > 0:39:36is portray this as an American thing

0:39:36 > 0:39:39or, at best, an Anglo-Saxon thing.

0:39:39 > 0:39:41Oh, the sex abuse scandals,

0:39:41 > 0:39:44they happen only in the United States, in Canada...

0:39:44 > 0:39:47And, suddenly, in the year 2010,

0:39:47 > 0:39:51this great scandal explodes in Europe.

0:39:51 > 0:39:53It explodes in Ireland,

0:39:53 > 0:39:54in Germany,

0:39:54 > 0:39:56in Austria, in Switzerland,

0:39:56 > 0:39:57in France, in Belgium.

0:39:59 > 0:40:03Everybody points to this to be from the date 2002,

0:40:03 > 0:40:06when the Boston Globe said, "Hey, we have a problem here."

0:40:06 > 0:40:10And they subsequently published 1,200 articles.

0:40:10 > 0:40:13This is an old, old problem

0:40:13 > 0:40:16and if you follow this problem to its foundation,

0:40:16 > 0:40:20it will lead you to the highest corridors of the Vatican.

0:40:23 > 0:40:26Benedicti Decimi Sexti.

0:40:26 > 0:40:29Cardinale Ratzinger.

0:40:29 > 0:40:32CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:40:37 > 0:40:41In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope,

0:40:41 > 0:40:44and chose the name Benedict XVI.

0:40:46 > 0:40:50He was known as a great theologian and intellectual.

0:40:50 > 0:40:52What many did not realise

0:40:52 > 0:40:55was that for 25 years, he'd led the Vatican Office familiar

0:40:55 > 0:40:59with the most severe cases of sex abuse by priests,

0:40:59 > 0:41:03the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

0:41:03 > 0:41:06The CDF has a dark history.

0:41:06 > 0:41:08When it was founded in the 16th century,

0:41:08 > 0:41:11it was known as the Inquisition.

0:41:11 > 0:41:13Ratzinger took that job over,

0:41:13 > 0:41:15he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising,

0:41:15 > 0:41:17and he was promoted by John Paul II to run

0:41:17 > 0:41:20the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

0:41:22 > 0:41:26Think of the Pope in the middle and a whole bunch of offices around him.

0:41:26 > 0:41:30What you had was multiple offices of the Holy See, who ultimately

0:41:30 > 0:41:35don't talk to one another, handling these different cases.

0:41:35 > 0:41:38And so, cases wouldn't get bogged down.

0:41:40 > 0:41:43But then what happened in 2001,

0:41:43 > 0:41:47Ratzinger put out this teaching approved by John Paul II that said,

0:41:47 > 0:41:53"Every sex abuse case that involves a minor, they all come to my desk."

0:41:56 > 0:41:57From 2001 forward,

0:41:57 > 0:42:01every single priest sex abuse case went to Ratzinger.

0:42:03 > 0:42:07Cardinal Ratzinger, now His Holiness Benedict XVI,

0:42:07 > 0:42:09is the most knowledgeable person in the world

0:42:09 > 0:42:13regarding priestly sexual abuse of minors,

0:42:13 > 0:42:15cos he has all the data.

0:42:18 > 0:42:21Inside the cloistered walls of the Vatican

0:42:21 > 0:42:25lie voluminous records of worldwide sexual abuse in the priesthood,

0:42:25 > 0:42:27centralised in the secret archives

0:42:27 > 0:42:31of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

0:42:31 > 0:42:36It is the century-old history of the Catholic Church.

0:42:36 > 0:42:42We have documents from councils in Spain in the 4th century

0:42:42 > 0:42:48after Christ, in which there is written something about

0:42:48 > 0:42:50sex abuse with children.

0:42:50 > 0:42:56So it is 1,700 years that the church is dealing about this.

0:42:59 > 0:43:02This is the guilt of the Vatican.

0:43:02 > 0:43:07They could already understand that this scandal was not just

0:43:07 > 0:43:13an American scandal, and that a paedophile is not a sinner,

0:43:13 > 0:43:14but he's a criminal.

0:43:14 > 0:43:19He is a criminal who plans his activity, who is very

0:43:19 > 0:43:25attentive to organise situations in which he can abuse children.

0:43:25 > 0:43:28# Well, it's one for the money And it's two for the show

0:43:28 > 0:43:31# Three to get ready Now, go, cat, go

0:43:31 > 0:43:34# But don't you Stand on my blue suede shoes

0:43:34 > 0:43:35# Uh-huh

0:43:35 > 0:43:39# You can do anything But lay off of my blue suede shoes. #

0:43:39 > 0:43:42For most people, Tony Walsh was the priest from Ballyfermot

0:43:42 > 0:43:44who did an Elvis impersonation,

0:43:44 > 0:43:46He was part of the Singing Priests group.

0:43:46 > 0:43:49And he was very good, he was a really, really popular priest.

0:43:49 > 0:43:52What most people didn't know was that Tony Walsh

0:43:52 > 0:43:55was Ireland's most notorious paedophile.

0:43:58 > 0:44:01In 2010, a government investigation revealed that Walsh,

0:44:01 > 0:44:05by his own count, had committed over 200 acts of abuse.

0:44:05 > 0:44:09That investigation, known as the Murphy Report, also uncovered the

0:44:09 > 0:44:13fact that the archdiocese of Dublin had known about Walsh's activity

0:44:13 > 0:44:18for nearly 20 years, yet did nothing to inform parents or police.

0:44:23 > 0:44:26In Ireland, Catholicism is kind of like a blood type.

0:44:26 > 0:44:29It's the status quo, it's what's always been done,

0:44:29 > 0:44:31you don't question it, you blindly go along with it.

0:44:31 > 0:44:34The Catholic Church was part of who we are and what we are.

0:44:37 > 0:44:40The priest, he is the carrier of the sacrament.

0:44:40 > 0:44:43You know, it's almost like he's the...he's got the Holy Grail.

0:44:43 > 0:44:45I remember interviewing a woman once and she said,

0:44:45 > 0:44:47"We used to get down on our knees

0:44:47 > 0:44:49"when he passed by and bless ourselves."

0:44:49 > 0:44:51"He carried the host." That's how people saw them

0:44:51 > 0:44:54and that's because they were almost Godlike.

0:44:57 > 0:45:01The government investigation into the Singing Priest uncovered

0:45:01 > 0:45:03church documents that revealed a new dimension

0:45:03 > 0:45:06to the worldwide sex abuse scandal.

0:45:06 > 0:45:08It was the role played by bishops

0:45:08 > 0:45:11and the Vatican in allowing the abuse to continue.

0:45:13 > 0:45:14Year after year,

0:45:14 > 0:45:18parents reported Walsh's abuse to the Dublin archdiocese,

0:45:18 > 0:45:20but the church did not punish the priest,

0:45:20 > 0:45:25reach out to the victims or alert local parents.

0:45:25 > 0:45:27As revelations continued in the Walsh case,

0:45:27 > 0:45:30parents and survivors scanned the Murphy Report to learn

0:45:30 > 0:45:33the extent of the crimes and the cover-up.

0:45:33 > 0:45:36Documents showed that the church kept allowing Walsh

0:45:36 > 0:45:41to care for children, even after a secret stint in a clinic

0:45:41 > 0:45:44run by the Servants of the Paraclete.

0:45:44 > 0:45:46VOICE DISTORTED: The clinic allowed Father Walsh

0:45:46 > 0:45:49to roam the streets of the nearby large city,

0:45:49 > 0:45:53after admitting to abusing 100 kids, unsupervised.

0:45:53 > 0:45:55He was allowed to dress in clerical attire

0:45:55 > 0:45:58and said Masses in the local churches.

0:45:58 > 0:46:00Father Walsh visited a house

0:46:00 > 0:46:03and paid a lot of attention to the 11-year-old son.

0:46:03 > 0:46:05He agreed to babysit for the children

0:46:05 > 0:46:09- and God knows what happened to the kids that week.- Yeah.

0:46:09 > 0:46:12I mean, that's a clinic allowing him to do something like that.

0:46:12 > 0:46:17- That is ridiculous. And they're not being held accountable.- It's...

0:46:17 > 0:46:20Father Walsh was immediately removed from the clinic.

0:46:20 > 0:46:21I think it's about time

0:46:21 > 0:46:24when a paedophile gets thrown out of a clinic.

0:46:24 > 0:46:26Through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

0:46:26 > 0:46:29And we ask these and all our prayers,

0:46:29 > 0:46:33through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Amen.

0:46:33 > 0:46:35Even after a decade of abuse,

0:46:35 > 0:46:40the faithful heard nothing about Walsh from the Archbishop of Dublin.

0:46:40 > 0:46:44- Why didn't you go yourself, Bishop? - Go where?- Go to the victims yourself.

0:46:44 > 0:46:48- Erm...- And encourage them to go to the police.

0:46:48 > 0:46:51I suppose perhaps I should have, perhaps I should have done

0:46:51 > 0:46:55but, erm, I've so much to do.

0:46:57 > 0:47:01In secret, Archbishop Connell did launch an investigation,

0:47:01 > 0:47:04but according to the laws of Roman Catholicism,

0:47:04 > 0:47:09known as Canon law, Connell followed orders from the Vatican to keep

0:47:09 > 0:47:14any details of Walsh's crimes hidden behind the walls of the church.

0:47:14 > 0:47:16Everybody involved in that process,

0:47:16 > 0:47:19the accuser, the accused and the witnesses,

0:47:19 > 0:47:23are all obliged to take an oath of absolute secrecy,

0:47:23 > 0:47:25that they will never reveal for the rest of their life

0:47:25 > 0:47:30any of the information that they learned in the process.

0:47:30 > 0:47:32Following the dictates of the Vatican,

0:47:32 > 0:47:3613 years after the first sign of Walsh's abuse,

0:47:36 > 0:47:40Archbishop Connell finally convened a secret church trial.

0:47:40 > 0:47:44They appoint three judges, Canon lawyers, to listen to evidence,

0:47:44 > 0:47:47which is overwhelmingly evidence against this guy, and they

0:47:47 > 0:47:51recommend in 1992 that he should be dismissed from the priesthood.

0:47:51 > 0:47:53And he's always pleaded not guilty.

0:47:53 > 0:47:56Even though he's admitted to 100 cases of abuse,

0:47:56 > 0:47:57he's pleaded not guilty.

0:47:57 > 0:48:00He appeals that to Rome.

0:48:00 > 0:48:02For eight months, the Vatican dithers

0:48:02 > 0:48:03and decides what to do with him,

0:48:03 > 0:48:06and in that eight months he abuses another child.

0:48:06 > 0:48:09Abuses a child at his grandfather's funeral.

0:48:09 > 0:48:11The Vatican is fundamentally responsible

0:48:11 > 0:48:13for this guy being abused.

0:48:14 > 0:48:16The Vatican come back and decide,

0:48:16 > 0:48:19"Well, we won't dismiss him from the priesthood,

0:48:19 > 0:48:21"Put him in a monastery for 10 years."

0:48:21 > 0:48:22The bishop is tearing his hair out.

0:48:22 > 0:48:24"What do you mean, put him in a monastery for 10 years?!

0:48:24 > 0:48:26"No monastery will take him!"

0:48:26 > 0:48:30And so, Des Connell pleads with the Vatican, and he personally

0:48:30 > 0:48:32went to see Cardinal Ratzinger to write his dismissal order.

0:48:35 > 0:48:37The Vatican did nothing.

0:48:37 > 0:48:41But angry parents forced the police to act.

0:48:41 > 0:48:44Walsh was convicted of sexual assault in 1995.

0:48:45 > 0:48:50Only then, after tolerating Walsh's abuse of hundreds of children,

0:48:50 > 0:48:53did the Vatican finally dismiss Father Walsh

0:48:53 > 0:48:56from the priestly state.

0:48:56 > 0:49:00Two priests who were judges on the Tony Walsh case

0:49:00 > 0:49:02swore an oath of secrecy.

0:49:02 > 0:49:05Where are they now? They're two bishops.

0:49:19 > 0:49:22For priests, secrecy can have its rewards.

0:49:23 > 0:49:27But for the faithful in Ireland, the cover-up may be an unforgivable sin.

0:49:30 > 0:49:33We were 95% practising Catholics.

0:49:33 > 0:49:36I spoke to a priest only yesterday, he says,

0:49:36 > 0:49:38"4% come to church in Dublin."

0:49:38 > 0:49:42But that's not to say that they've lost their faith.

0:49:42 > 0:49:45They certainly lost faith in the hierarchy.

0:49:48 > 0:49:52In 2010, Pope Benedict sought to bring the flock back to the church

0:49:52 > 0:49:57by writing an unprecedented letter to the Irish faithful.

0:49:58 > 0:50:00To us bishops he says,

0:50:00 > 0:50:04"We must admit that grave errors of judgment were made,

0:50:04 > 0:50:09"and failures of leadership occurred which have seriously

0:50:09 > 0:50:12"undermined our credibility and effectiveness."

0:50:12 > 0:50:16What he does is, he blames the Irish bishops for their misplaced concern

0:50:16 > 0:50:19for the reputation of the church in the avoidance of scandal,

0:50:19 > 0:50:21for not following Canon law.

0:50:21 > 0:50:24He never once acknowledged the role of the Vatican in all of this.

0:50:24 > 0:50:27I spoke to one bishop who was so angry.

0:50:27 > 0:50:30He said, "How dare he blame us?

0:50:30 > 0:50:32"Show me where we didn't follow Canon law!

0:50:32 > 0:50:35"Canon law was the problem!"

0:50:35 > 0:50:40That prompted a few people to come out of the woodwork, if you like.

0:50:42 > 0:50:47An anonymous source leaked a mysterious document.

0:50:47 > 0:50:49It was a smoking gun.

0:50:49 > 0:50:51A 1997 letter from the Vatican

0:50:51 > 0:50:54that overruled attempts by Irish bishops

0:50:54 > 0:50:56to report sex abuse to the police.

0:50:58 > 0:51:01Why didn't any of them just stand up publicly and come out and say,

0:51:01 > 0:51:04"The Vatican has instructed us not to report crimes to the police"?

0:51:04 > 0:51:07Because they are totally loyal to the Vatican.

0:51:09 > 0:51:13In 2011, the release of yet another government investigation

0:51:13 > 0:51:15was the final blow which shattered relations

0:51:15 > 0:51:18between the Vatican and Ireland.

0:51:18 > 0:51:22The report excavates the dysfunction, the disconnection,

0:51:22 > 0:51:28the elitism that dominates the culture of the Vatican today.

0:51:28 > 0:51:31The rape and the torture of children were downplayed

0:51:31 > 0:51:36or managed to uphold instead the primacy of the institution

0:51:36 > 0:51:41its power, its standing and its reputation.

0:51:41 > 0:51:42This calculated,

0:51:42 > 0:51:46withering position being the polar opposite of the radicalism,

0:51:46 > 0:51:52the humility and the compassion upon which the Roman Church was founded.

0:51:57 > 0:52:00BELLS CHIME

0:52:13 > 0:52:15Even as Irish churches lay empty,

0:52:15 > 0:52:19Rome received tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world

0:52:19 > 0:52:24who had come to see the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

0:52:24 > 0:52:27PRAYER IN LATIN

0:52:39 > 0:52:42As the prayers continued late into the night,

0:52:42 > 0:52:45victims of sex abuse couldn't help wondering

0:52:45 > 0:52:48why Benedict was in such a rush

0:52:48 > 0:52:51to move John Paul's soul on the path to sainthood.

0:53:04 > 0:53:08Maciel Maciel Degollado was one of the world's most charismatic

0:53:08 > 0:53:11fundraisers for the Catholic Church.

0:53:11 > 0:53:14In 1941, he founded the Legion Of Christ,

0:53:14 > 0:53:18a group of young zealots who raised phenomenal amounts of money

0:53:18 > 0:53:22and opened universities and seminaries all over the world.

0:53:22 > 0:53:26Maciel controlled an annual operating budget of 650 million,

0:53:26 > 0:53:30and counted amongst his friends the world's richest man, Carlos Slim,

0:53:30 > 0:53:34Jeb Bush, Sandy Weill, former chairman of Citigroup,

0:53:34 > 0:53:38and former CIA director William Casey.

0:53:38 > 0:53:42Maciel was also a particular favourite of Pope John Paul II

0:53:42 > 0:53:45who exalted him as a holy man and visionary.

0:53:45 > 0:53:49Maciel was as connected as you could get in Rome

0:53:49 > 0:53:51and he got that way by giving money to people.

0:53:51 > 0:53:54He was held in great favour by John Paul II.

0:53:54 > 0:53:56For a number of reasons. The money was certainly one of them.

0:53:56 > 0:53:59And second, he was bowing and scraping

0:53:59 > 0:54:02and worshipping the Pope and the Pope apparently liked it.

0:54:04 > 0:54:08But, as the song goes, though Maciel looks like an angel

0:54:08 > 0:54:11and talked like an angel, he was a devil in disguise.

0:54:18 > 0:54:22Behind closed doors, Maciel led a secret life.

0:54:22 > 0:54:23He was a morphine addict

0:54:23 > 0:54:27and a ruthless sex criminal who abused dozens of his legionaries.

0:54:27 > 0:54:30He would visit the monasteries every few days

0:54:30 > 0:54:32and insist on being masturbated

0:54:32 > 0:54:34or on having sex with one of the boys.

0:54:35 > 0:54:37Often posing as an agent of the CIA,

0:54:37 > 0:54:41he had at least two secret mistresses and four children.

0:54:41 > 0:54:44He abused some of them too.

0:54:44 > 0:54:48Yet even when stories in the press started to emerge about Maciel,

0:54:48 > 0:54:52John Paul did not investigate him, he celebrated him.

0:54:52 > 0:54:56In 1997, when Renner and I did the investigative piece

0:54:56 > 0:54:57for the Hartford Courant,

0:54:57 > 0:55:02the response we got from the Vatican was nothing.

0:55:02 > 0:55:06To say that John Paul was not given the information is preposterous.

0:55:06 > 0:55:10He is the Pope. People around him have this kind of information.

0:55:10 > 0:55:14One key cardinal, Angelo Sodano, stayed close to Maciel

0:55:14 > 0:55:19even as Maciel funnelled millions of dollars into the Vatican.

0:55:19 > 0:55:24Sodano would be Maciel's protector right to the end.

0:55:24 > 0:55:28The Maciel case is really a school case

0:55:28 > 0:55:32in order to understand how the machine works within the Vatican.

0:55:34 > 0:55:38Marco Politi is one of Italy's most knowledgeable Vatican-watchers.

0:55:38 > 0:55:41He has also spent a considerable amount of time

0:55:41 > 0:55:43with Joseph Ratzinger.

0:55:43 > 0:55:48From the outside, Ratzinger is often perceived as a stiff personality,

0:55:48 > 0:55:53cold, merciless with the dissenters in the Church.

0:55:53 > 0:55:57If you see him from the inside, in the inner circle,

0:55:57 > 0:56:00it's a very warm personality, sensitive.

0:56:00 > 0:56:03So he has always been very shocked

0:56:03 > 0:56:07when he has heard about sex abuse scandals.

0:56:08 > 0:56:10For him it is a horrible sin.

0:56:29 > 0:56:32His first reaction is the horror that a priest could do

0:56:32 > 0:56:34something like this. That's telling.

0:56:34 > 0:56:38It wasn't, "These poor victims!" That was not his first reaction.

0:56:38 > 0:56:40His first reaction is,

0:56:40 > 0:56:43"It's despoiled the priesthood! The sacred institution!"

0:56:43 > 0:56:45Yet, when he was a cardinal,

0:56:45 > 0:56:50it was his job to examine every one of these sex abuse cases.

0:56:50 > 0:56:54Ratzinger would have liked to open an investigation

0:56:54 > 0:57:00but he was stopped by the Secretary Of State, Cardinal Sodano.

0:57:00 > 0:57:04Sodano's ability to protect Maciel put Ratzinger in a difficult

0:57:04 > 0:57:07position as more and more victims of Maciel came forward.

0:57:07 > 0:57:12What you find in Ratzinger at that point is a man who is troubled

0:57:12 > 0:57:15by justice that had not gone forward

0:57:15 > 0:57:19and yet at the same time was trying to balance his loyalty to the Pope,

0:57:19 > 0:57:22who clearly did not want Maciel prosecuted.

0:57:30 > 0:57:38Cardinal Ratzinger waits till the moment when John Paul II is dying.

0:57:38 > 0:57:42The same day that John Paul II dies,

0:57:42 > 0:57:47the Prosecutor General of the Congregation Of Faith flies

0:57:47 > 0:57:53to New York and he stays in New York and in Mexico City for eight days

0:57:53 > 0:58:00and he gets all the material to show that Maciel was a sex criminal.

0:58:00 > 0:58:06So it is interesting, for at least 15 years, the Vatican didn't move

0:58:06 > 0:58:10a finger to investigate and only in the moment

0:58:10 > 0:58:15when all the Vatican is stopped because the Pope is dead

0:58:15 > 0:58:19Cardinal Ratzinger succeeds to get the evidence.

0:58:19 > 0:58:22Cardinal Ratzinger's investigation confirmed his suspicion

0:58:22 > 0:58:26of Maciel's crimes but still he did not act.

0:58:26 > 0:58:33When Benedict became Pope in 2005, did Benedict order his trial?

0:58:33 > 0:58:37Did Benedict punish him in any way? No.

0:58:38 > 0:58:43Not even a Pope is all-powerful because he lives in a structure -

0:58:43 > 0:58:48the Roman Curia which is almost 2,000 years old -

0:58:48 > 0:58:54and the structure always wants to defend itself.

0:58:54 > 0:59:00He searched the truth about Maciel but he didn't get the courage

0:59:00 > 0:59:04to condemn him immediately, publicly and to defrock him.

0:59:16 > 0:59:21In 1997, facing a disease that would ultimately take his life,

0:59:21 > 0:59:25Bob Bolger made this video to memorialise Father Murphy's crimes.

0:59:49 > 0:59:52He set out on a road trip with his friends from St John's, Arthur

0:59:52 > 0:59:57and Gary, to see if they could finally hold Murphy to account.

0:59:59 > 1:00:02Murphy was living at the cabin in Boulder Junction

1:00:02 > 1:00:06with a deaf housekeeper who'd studied and worked at St John's.

1:00:12 > 1:00:15Bob gave me the camera and I videotaped it.

1:00:17 > 1:00:21And then Murphy came out. And they met.

1:00:23 > 1:00:26And Bob got in his face and really let him have it.

1:00:26 > 1:00:28He told him, "You need to walk yourself right now

1:00:28 > 1:00:30"to the police station.

1:00:30 > 1:00:32"Walk yourself to jail."

1:00:58 > 1:01:04Don't bother me. Don't bother me. Go on.

1:01:11 > 1:01:15Then Grace got involved and was saying, "Forget it, forgive him!"

1:01:35 > 1:01:37And Bolger is like, "You don't understand, Grace,

1:01:37 > 1:01:41"stay out of it." After that, we got in the car and we left.

1:01:54 > 1:01:57When I told my wife what I had experienced with Murphy,

1:01:57 > 1:01:58her heart broke for me.

1:02:01 > 1:02:04When I finally told her I thought,

1:02:04 > 1:02:07"Shit, I should never have told my wife!"

1:02:07 > 1:02:10I thought I had made a mistake.

1:02:10 > 1:02:13I shouldn't have said anything, I should've kept it to myself.

1:02:13 > 1:02:15But it was too late.

1:02:15 > 1:02:19We grappled with it and my wife ultimately took me

1:02:19 > 1:02:21to a psychologist.

1:02:22 > 1:02:27So when I finally blew, just let it all out,

1:02:27 > 1:02:30I decided to write what turned out to be a seven-page letter to Murphy.

1:02:30 > 1:02:34I had to unleash every angry emotion that I had ever felt

1:02:34 > 1:02:37and I just regurgitated it onto paper to Murphy.

1:03:30 > 1:03:31I sent that letter off to him

1:03:31 > 1:03:35and I got no reply so I wrote a second letter to Murphy.

1:03:35 > 1:03:36Still no reply.

1:03:43 > 1:03:47Weakland inherited Murphy in 1976

1:03:47 > 1:03:51and all through the '70s and through the '80s and up until that letter

1:03:51 > 1:03:52Archbishop Weakland

1:03:52 > 1:03:55does absolutely nothing with him. Not a thing.

1:03:55 > 1:03:58He keeps gathering information on Murphy

1:03:58 > 1:04:01because victims keep coming to the archdioceses about him.

1:04:01 > 1:04:04"What's happening with him? What are you doing with him?"

1:04:04 > 1:04:08He does psychological and criminological assessments of Murphy

1:04:08 > 1:04:11where they determine he has assaulted probably 200 children.

1:04:12 > 1:04:16The therapist's handwritten notes on her interviews with Murphy

1:04:16 > 1:04:19not only determined that he was untreatable,

1:04:19 > 1:04:23they also revealed his complex justifications for his crimes.

1:05:08 > 1:05:13Father Thomas Brundage called priest paedophilia

1:05:13 > 1:05:17"a form of homicide",

1:05:17 > 1:05:21in that it takes away children's innocence.

1:05:21 > 1:05:25Would you agree or disagree with that observation?

1:05:25 > 1:05:27If you had asked me that in 1979,

1:05:27 > 1:05:29I would not have agreed but if you

1:05:29 > 1:05:36ask me that now in the year 2008, I would say in almost every case, yes.

1:05:38 > 1:05:40What do you do about Father Murphy?

1:05:40 > 1:05:43It was a question which repeated itself over and over again.

1:05:43 > 1:05:46The statutes of limitation had expired

1:05:46 > 1:05:52so criminal charges in the courts were out of the question.

1:05:52 > 1:05:55Statute of limitations in the Church courts,

1:05:55 > 1:06:00according to Church law, Canon law, had expired long before the others.

1:06:01 > 1:06:06Then it became evident that it might be possible to still submit the

1:06:06 > 1:06:11Murphy case on the basis of the way in which he used the confessional.

1:06:11 > 1:06:14That was one where the statute of limitation never expires.

1:06:15 > 1:06:19I submitted that to Cardinal Ratzinger's office.

1:06:19 > 1:06:23Finally, I think after a year, we got an answer back saying,

1:06:23 > 1:06:25"Yes, we can open the case."

1:06:27 > 1:06:32Weakland had a private conversation with Cardinal Ratzinger.

1:06:32 > 1:06:34Weakland also had a formal meeting to

1:06:34 > 1:06:39plead his case at the Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith.

1:06:39 > 1:06:43The deaf community in Milwaukee wanted to dismiss Father Murphy

1:06:43 > 1:06:47from religious life, so my heart went out to them.

1:06:47 > 1:06:50It went out to the kids in particular

1:06:50 > 1:06:54because they had not been believed by anybody.

1:06:55 > 1:06:58This meeting was held in the last week of May.

1:06:58 > 1:07:02In the middle of the summer, towards August, we got a letter

1:07:02 > 1:07:07that this case would not go forward because Father Murphy was quite ill.

1:07:11 > 1:07:15I felt awful having to go back and to say there was nothing more

1:07:15 > 1:07:17I could do, I felt awful about that.

1:07:19 > 1:07:25Weakland actually made an effort to do what any

1:07:25 > 1:07:31ordinary citizen would do - get the guy out and protect others.

1:07:31 > 1:07:38However, he did it without sacrificing his standing

1:07:38 > 1:07:41in the clerical culture and with the Vatican.

1:07:43 > 1:07:51He had his own sexual activity that he had to hide and keep secret

1:07:51 > 1:07:54and that distorts the whole picture.

1:07:54 > 1:07:58Weakland's activity was a homosexual affair that he had had with

1:07:58 > 1:08:01a graduate student who ultimately blackmailed him

1:08:01 > 1:08:03and the Church for 450,000.

1:08:05 > 1:08:07Weakland's fall from grace

1:08:07 > 1:08:09had nothing to do with sexual abuse really,

1:08:09 > 1:08:12I mean, it was a consensual relationship

1:08:12 > 1:08:14with somebody who was 35.

1:08:14 > 1:08:17The big problem was the payoff, the paying for silence.

1:08:17 > 1:08:19That was the real scandal.

1:08:19 > 1:08:24This scandal distracted people from a key element of the Murphy story.

1:08:24 > 1:08:26Rome may have refused to move against Murphy

1:08:26 > 1:08:28because of a letter

1:08:28 > 1:08:31that Father Murphy had written to Cardinal Ratzinger.

1:08:34 > 1:08:38"I have repented of any of my past transgressions

1:08:38 > 1:08:42"and have been living peaceably in northern Wisconsin for 24 years.

1:08:42 > 1:08:45"I simply want to live out the time that I have left

1:08:45 > 1:08:48"in the dignity of my priesthood."

1:08:50 > 1:08:56It's not just, "I'm an old man. I'm an old PRIEST. I'm an old priest.

1:08:56 > 1:08:59"Don't throw me away because I have this special mark.

1:08:59 > 1:09:03"I am another Christ."

1:09:03 > 1:09:06See, there is a heresy that the Church teaches.

1:09:08 > 1:09:14When a man is ordained a priest, he is changed ontologically.

1:09:14 > 1:09:21He is made a different brand of human being. A little less than the angels.

1:09:22 > 1:09:24These are people set apart.

1:09:24 > 1:09:27They are called, they are chosen by God, they want to protect

1:09:27 > 1:09:30the sacramentality, the supernatural element and so that is

1:09:30 > 1:09:34why they were very, very careful to do anything to the priest.

1:09:34 > 1:09:37A priest can take bread and wine

1:09:37 > 1:09:41and make Jesus Christ present on this altar.

1:09:43 > 1:09:48He has power over heaven and hell, somebody comes to you in confession

1:09:48 > 1:09:54and you say, "I won't absolve you" - he'll be damned.

1:09:56 > 1:09:58The church court informed me

1:09:58 > 1:10:01that Murphy couldn't go to his church hearing,

1:10:01 > 1:10:03because he was too ill.

1:10:03 > 1:10:05And Murphy wouldn't live much longer.

1:10:07 > 1:10:09But Murphy went to play the slots.

1:10:11 > 1:10:14And then he collapsed and was taken to the hospital.

1:10:18 > 1:10:23Murphy passed away and he was buried in his priestly vestments,

1:10:23 > 1:10:25in a Catholic cemetery.

1:10:48 > 1:10:51LOUDSPEAKERS, IN ITALIAN: 'God helps throughout history.

1:10:51 > 1:10:57'While contemplating the mystery we give thanks to God.

1:10:57 > 1:11:00'We thank the Father.'

1:11:01 > 1:11:04There are many people inside the Vatican

1:11:04 > 1:11:07who still don't see how serious a matter this is.

1:11:07 > 1:11:10And the code of Omerta, the code of silence,

1:11:10 > 1:11:13keeps people from speaking out.

1:11:17 > 1:11:20It's part of the whole psyche and mentality

1:11:20 > 1:11:22and ethos of the hierarchy.

1:11:22 > 1:11:26This idea that there are enemies out to destroy the church,

1:11:26 > 1:11:30and do whatever you can to keep ammunition away from them.

1:11:30 > 1:11:34For centuries the Vatican has been accustomed

1:11:34 > 1:11:38to show to the world always that it is perfect.

1:11:38 > 1:11:43So, you understand that the Vatican is terrorised that in Italy

1:11:43 > 1:11:48you could have, also, thousands of sex abuse cases which,

1:11:48 > 1:11:51up till now, have been hidden.

1:12:01 > 1:12:05IN ITALIAN:

1:13:14 > 1:13:19IN ITALIAN:

1:13:33 > 1:13:34Throughout Italy,

1:13:34 > 1:13:38news of victims is often drowned out by more powerful voices.

1:13:38 > 1:13:42The signal from Vatican Radio is so strong that Romans can often

1:13:42 > 1:13:46hear Sunday mass on their electric doorbells.

1:13:46 > 1:13:48But when it comes to stories about sex abuse,

1:13:48 > 1:13:52there is a deafening silence on Italy's national networks.

1:13:52 > 1:13:55I think, for Catholic journalists, it has been a very difficult time.

1:13:55 > 1:13:58I still hear some of the old Monsignori in the Vatican,

1:13:58 > 1:14:02saying, "Oh, boys have always done this,

1:14:02 > 1:14:05"in all-male environments, it's normal."

1:14:05 > 1:14:08And, I mean, "This wasn't abuse, these kids,

1:14:08 > 1:14:11"they were interested, and it's rites of passage."

1:14:11 > 1:14:12Even in 2011.

1:14:12 > 1:14:16One bishop made the statement, "Little boys heal.

1:14:16 > 1:14:18"They will get over it."

1:14:18 > 1:14:19In reference to a priest

1:14:19 > 1:14:22who had marauded a number of young boys,

1:14:22 > 1:14:2410, 12, 13-year-old boys.

1:14:24 > 1:14:27Anally raping them, and things like that. You don't heal from that.

1:14:27 > 1:14:31And most instances, your life is never the same. It's ruined.

1:14:37 > 1:14:41I realised that the Vatican was in control of every priest

1:14:41 > 1:14:44and every nun, every bishop and every cardinal,

1:14:44 > 1:14:47and they were all under oath, they couldn't talk about it.

1:14:47 > 1:14:50I couldn't stand seeing the church tell everyone to keep quiet,

1:14:50 > 1:14:52and not talk about it.

1:14:54 > 1:14:58Terry, having written to Cardinal Sodano,

1:14:58 > 1:15:01on that, I felt we could build a case.

1:15:03 > 1:15:06Jeff said, "Your letter to the Vatican was very powerful,

1:15:06 > 1:15:09"and I'd be honoured to represent you."

1:15:10 > 1:15:14I immediately agreed, and signed the paperwork.

1:15:14 > 1:15:16When they left, I said to my wife,

1:15:16 > 1:15:19"Jeff is going to help me sue the Vatican.

1:15:19 > 1:15:22"He's going to get things in motion."

1:15:22 > 1:15:24I love Jeff for that.

1:15:24 > 1:15:27Jeff Anderson & Associates filed a lawsuit

1:15:27 > 1:15:29against the Vatican on Terry's behalf.

1:15:29 > 1:15:33The suit named Pope Benedict, the current Vatican Secretary of State,

1:15:33 > 1:15:38Cardinal Bertone, and the former Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano.

1:15:38 > 1:15:41What we implore the Vatican to do in this lawsuit,

1:15:41 > 1:15:43and what we need them to do, is to act.

1:15:43 > 1:15:46That is, to disclose the secrets,

1:15:46 > 1:15:48the evidence of the crimes that they have,

1:15:48 > 1:15:51the identities of the offenders,

1:15:51 > 1:15:53and the bishops, archbishops and cardinals

1:15:53 > 1:15:57that have been complicit in those crimes, worldwide.

1:15:59 > 1:16:01As a result of Terry's lawsuit,

1:16:01 > 1:16:04documents were uncovered revealing the role of Rome

1:16:04 > 1:16:06in the worldwide sex abuse scandal

1:16:06 > 1:16:09that caught the attention of the New York Times.

1:16:09 > 1:16:12These documents seemed to turn the whole story

1:16:12 > 1:16:16that we'd been writing all these years, on its head.

1:16:16 > 1:16:20Up until then, what we thought was that American bishops were at fault.

1:16:20 > 1:16:23With these documents, for the first time,

1:16:23 > 1:16:25we saw communication between American bishops

1:16:25 > 1:16:29and in particular the office run by then-Cardinal Ratzinger,

1:16:29 > 1:16:31in which the American bishops are pleading

1:16:31 > 1:16:34with officials in the Vatican, repeatedly,

1:16:34 > 1:16:38saying, "Help us get this priest out of the priesthood.

1:16:38 > 1:16:41"The victims are asking us to defrock him."

1:16:41 > 1:16:46And the response from the Vatican is to have compassion for the priest,

1:16:46 > 1:16:48and almost no thought at all about the victims.

1:16:48 > 1:16:50And you see that in these documents.

1:16:50 > 1:16:54I was completely unprepared for the reaction.

1:16:54 > 1:16:57I had no idea how big the story was.

1:16:57 > 1:17:01I got hate mail, I got hate phone calls that were anti-Semitic.

1:17:01 > 1:17:04The New York Times, and me personally,

1:17:04 > 1:17:07we were accused of being anti-Catholic.

1:17:07 > 1:17:10This is being driven by Jeffrey Anderson,

1:17:10 > 1:17:13teaming up with the New York Times, going back half a century.

1:17:13 > 1:17:17The alleged abuse took place in the 1950s.

1:17:17 > 1:17:22The Vatican didn't find out about the case until 1996.

1:17:22 > 1:17:25Ratzinger goes ahead and orders an investigation,

1:17:25 > 1:17:28and during that two-year period while they are investigating,

1:17:28 > 1:17:29Father Murphy dies.

1:17:29 > 1:17:31Now what exactly was Ratzinger supposed to do?

1:17:31 > 1:17:33Where is the wrongdoing?

1:17:33 > 1:17:37It appeared to me that Mr Donohue didn't even read the story.

1:17:37 > 1:17:43The victims, and their advocates, met with Archbishop Cousins in 1974.

1:17:45 > 1:17:49And there were representatives of the Vatican in that meeting.

1:17:49 > 1:17:52They were introduced to two men who said

1:17:52 > 1:17:55they were from the Papal Nuncio's office.

1:17:55 > 1:17:58There was a way that the Vatican was informed

1:17:58 > 1:18:01of that case, as early as 1974.

1:18:01 > 1:18:04IN ITALIAN:

1:18:10 > 1:18:13Deny, minimise, and blame.

1:18:13 > 1:18:17And so they now blame the media,

1:18:17 > 1:18:20they now blame the lawyers,

1:18:20 > 1:18:24they now even blame the survivors.

1:18:24 > 1:18:26In 2011, Jeff Anderson & Associates

1:18:26 > 1:18:30attempted to serve legal papers from Terry's lawsuit, to the Vatican.

1:18:30 > 1:18:35The FedEx package was returned, with the Vatican's comment marked,

1:18:35 > 1:18:37"undesired and unwanted".

1:18:37 > 1:18:39Forcing Anderson's next attempt

1:18:39 > 1:18:41to be made through the US State Department.

1:18:41 > 1:18:45The church claims to be, and is recognised as, a state.

1:18:45 > 1:18:49States have immunities, states have their own law.

1:18:49 > 1:18:53They are severely disordered, and that's why they abuse.

1:18:53 > 1:18:55Geoffrey Robertson is a human rights lawyer,

1:18:55 > 1:18:58and the author of the book The Case of the Pope.

1:18:58 > 1:19:00He seeks to hold the Pope accountable

1:19:00 > 1:19:02for crimes against humanity,

1:19:02 > 1:19:05and to demolish the diplomatic immunity of the Vatican.

1:19:05 > 1:19:08The Vatican is not really a state.

1:19:08 > 1:19:12It's a tiny little religious enclave in Rome.

1:19:12 > 1:19:14It doesn't have a people. There are no Vaticanians.

1:19:14 > 1:19:19No-one gets born in the Vatican, except by accident.

1:19:19 > 1:19:22It's a group of celibate religious figures.

1:19:22 > 1:19:25It's got no army, no soccer team,

1:19:25 > 1:19:28none of the attributes of statehood.

1:19:28 > 1:19:31Yet it has this power because of an historical anomaly.

1:19:31 > 1:19:35In 1929, Mussolini made an alliance

1:19:35 > 1:19:39with the man who became Pope Pious XI.

1:19:39 > 1:19:45The church supported Mussolini's one-party, fascist state,

1:19:45 > 1:19:50in return for being given the attribute of statehood.

1:19:50 > 1:19:53It is the creation of a state

1:19:53 > 1:19:56for the Catholic Church, by fascists.

1:19:58 > 1:20:00This fence is the border of the country

1:20:00 > 1:20:02that is known as the Vatican.

1:20:02 > 1:20:07178 countries now acknowledge the Vatican as a state.

1:20:07 > 1:20:11Politicians like to go and meet the Pope.

1:20:11 > 1:20:14They like to have the blessing of the Pope,

1:20:14 > 1:20:16to encourage their voters.

1:20:17 > 1:20:19But the Pope poses a problem.

1:20:19 > 1:20:21According to Canon Law,

1:20:21 > 1:20:25the Pontiff cannot be judged by any civil or religious authority.

1:20:25 > 1:20:27He is beyond the law.

1:20:27 > 1:20:31It will be, I think, an important task,

1:20:31 > 1:20:35to work out how to bring the Pope beneath the law,

1:20:35 > 1:20:39by arguing either that the Vatican is not a real state

1:20:39 > 1:20:42or that the degree of his negligence

1:20:42 > 1:20:44over the child abuse scandal

1:20:44 > 1:20:47does involve him in a crime against humanity.

1:20:52 > 1:20:53This is a global church

1:20:53 > 1:20:57that is growing most rapidly in the developing world.

1:20:57 > 1:21:01In these cultures, the idea of someone coming forward

1:21:01 > 1:21:05and saying a priest has done something wrong,

1:21:05 > 1:21:07it doesn't happen.

1:21:07 > 1:21:10There is such a stigma to this problem,

1:21:10 > 1:21:15so much shame and embarrassment, but we know it goes on there.

1:21:15 > 1:21:16Because it's a human problem.

1:21:16 > 1:21:19And there have started to be cases, in Latin America,

1:21:19 > 1:21:23in the Philippines, even some in Africa and India, very slowly.

1:21:23 > 1:21:28They are about where the American church was in the 1960s and 1970s.

1:21:28 > 1:21:32There is going to be a delayed reaction in that part of the world.

1:21:35 > 1:21:38In America, one of the church's most public defenders

1:21:38 > 1:21:42has been Timothy Dolan, who was recently promoted to Cardinal.

1:21:43 > 1:21:47In 2009, Dolan was the Archbishop of Milwaukee,

1:21:47 > 1:21:50where he endured legal settlements to abuse victims

1:21:50 > 1:21:53that cost the church more than 26 million.

1:21:53 > 1:21:55When you think of what happened,

1:21:55 > 1:21:59both that a man who proposes to act in the name of God

1:21:59 > 1:22:01would abuse an innocent young person,

1:22:01 > 1:22:04and that some bishops would have, in a way, countenanced that,

1:22:04 > 1:22:08by reassigning abusers, that's nothing less than hideous.

1:22:08 > 1:22:10Nothing less than nauseating.

1:22:10 > 1:22:13The second story, morally, is the church's reaction to that,

1:22:13 > 1:22:15which I think has been good.

1:22:16 > 1:22:18Many would disagree.

1:22:18 > 1:22:20The fact is that abuse cases

1:22:20 > 1:22:23continue to surface all over the country.

1:22:24 > 1:22:27While in Milwaukee, Dolan met with victims,

1:22:27 > 1:22:31but also took bold steps to protect the church from their claims.

1:22:33 > 1:22:35Survivors note that Dolan moved assets

1:22:35 > 1:22:38from living victims to dead souls,

1:22:38 > 1:22:42by transferring 55 million of church money to a cemetery trust.

1:22:43 > 1:22:47Then in 2011, the Archdiocese declared bankruptcy.

1:22:50 > 1:22:53But in 2012, 570 victims of sex abuse,

1:22:53 > 1:22:55including Arthur and Gary,

1:22:55 > 1:22:59were granted the right to a trial against the Church

1:22:59 > 1:23:02in Milwaukee's bankruptcy court.

1:23:02 > 1:23:05Their goal was to uncover more documents regarding sex abuse

1:23:05 > 1:23:08and to obtain cash settlements for survivors.

1:23:10 > 1:23:14This is the largest organisation in the world.

1:23:14 > 1:23:18You have rivers of cash, Sunday after Sunday,

1:23:18 > 1:23:20that flow into these collection plates.

1:23:20 > 1:23:23There is great concern within the hierarchy

1:23:23 > 1:23:26about the impact of the financial losses.

1:23:26 > 1:23:29Eight diocese have taken bankruptcy protection

1:23:29 > 1:23:31to negotiate mass settlements,

1:23:31 > 1:23:34Boston lost more than 50% of it's parishes.

1:23:38 > 1:23:41IN ITALIAN:

1:23:59 > 1:24:04Benedict XVI would like to heal the situation, to heal the victims.

1:24:05 > 1:24:08On the other hand, he is in a sort of stalemate

1:24:08 > 1:24:11because the organisations of the victims

1:24:11 > 1:24:16want full transparency about the past.

1:24:16 > 1:24:19They don't want only that the priests are defrocked.

1:24:19 > 1:24:23They want full transparency about the past.

1:24:23 > 1:24:28And I don't think that Benedict XVI is able to resolve this problem.

1:24:31 > 1:24:34The ongoing revelations have provoked survivors to demand

1:24:34 > 1:24:38a complete accounting of all cases of paedophile priests.

1:24:39 > 1:24:41Open the archives.

1:24:49 > 1:24:51The church is a perfect society.

1:24:51 > 1:24:55And its witness is as perfect society to the rest of the world.

1:24:55 > 1:24:57If we could get that out of our minds...

1:25:00 > 1:25:03Maybe we could take the pedestal away from the priest,

1:25:03 > 1:25:06take the pedestal away from the cardinals, take the pedestal away

1:25:06 > 1:25:09from the whole church, and be willing to say,

1:25:09 > 1:25:13"This is us, world. This is us. This is who we are.

1:25:13 > 1:25:17"We are a church of imperfect people."

1:25:18 > 1:25:21Jesus wasn't afraid of humanity, and we shouldn't be either.

1:25:24 > 1:25:26When I'm asked in court, often times,

1:25:26 > 1:25:29"How many times have you testified on behalf of the church?"

1:25:29 > 1:25:31And my response usually is, "Always."

1:25:31 > 1:25:33And they'll say, "Really?!" "Yeah, really."

1:25:33 > 1:25:35The people, they are the church.

1:25:35 > 1:25:38The victims, their mothers, fathers, friends,

1:25:38 > 1:25:40those are the church.

1:25:40 > 1:25:41They're the people of God,

1:25:41 > 1:25:45as is found very clearly in the Gospel stories of Christ.

1:25:45 > 1:25:49They are the people of God, they're the church.

1:25:52 > 1:25:57Hi, my name is Gary Smith. Hello. I thank you all for coming here today.

1:25:58 > 1:26:00One of our heroes.

1:26:03 > 1:26:06Thank you all for coming here and supporting us here today.

1:26:06 > 1:26:07Thank you. I love you.

1:26:17 > 1:26:21I'm so glad that all of us are here and willing to share,

1:26:21 > 1:26:24and I thank the whole team of lawyers that have been here,

1:26:24 > 1:26:25supporting all of us.

1:26:25 > 1:26:28I really went into hiding for about 35 years.

1:26:28 > 1:26:31And now I'm here, and I feel really good.

1:26:31 > 1:26:34The future of the children is what's important.

1:26:34 > 1:26:37And I decided to come and support everyone, all the victims.

1:26:40 > 1:26:45That filing of that bankruptcy did not stop us.

1:26:45 > 1:26:47And will not stop us.

1:26:49 > 1:26:51The idea of a group of deaf men,

1:26:51 > 1:26:57leafleting the cars outside of a cathedral,

1:26:57 > 1:27:00with a wanted poster of a priest,

1:27:00 > 1:27:07at a time when nobody suspected priests of wrongdoing, not

1:27:07 > 1:27:09to mention sexual abuse,

1:27:09 > 1:27:14and trying to shout and to warn,

1:27:14 > 1:27:18that just bowled me over.

1:27:18 > 1:27:20They were really the first victims who realised

1:27:20 > 1:27:24that they had to make public what was taking place. And they did that.

1:27:24 > 1:27:29And to think that a quarter of a century later,

1:27:29 > 1:27:31this case is bringing about change,

1:27:31 > 1:27:34that is a moment of resurrection.

1:27:34 > 1:27:36Coming out of this silence, of this deaf community,

1:27:36 > 1:27:41is this unbelievably loud and deafening cry for justice.

1:28:14 > 1:28:18Subtitles by Red Bee Media