Holy Watergate

Many of the films we have viewed this semester have been disturbing in some way, but Holy Watergate, produced, written, directed, and narrated by Mary Healey of URI, brought it to a whole new level. Healey combines documentary and investigative journalism to uncover the story behind sexual abuse by priests in our area. She is obviously very skilled because the interviews she manages to get for her film are extraordinary. Among those who appear on camera are several abuse victims (including one who is now himself a Catholic priest), a former priest who admits to having sexually abused children, and a high ranking U.S. Cardinal with some surprising personal thoughts on the scandal.

Healey herself is personally invested in the story. One of the former victims in the film is a childhood friend of hers. This connection interferes with the critical distance usually required by filmmakers in traditional documentaries, but it seems to be the trend in contemporary documentaries to slightly overstep these boundaries. Despite this possible conflict, the film is excellent and incredibly dense in evidence. Not only does she expose how the Catholic Church attempted to cover up the scandal by shuttling abusive priests from parish to parish and intimidating victims with potential lawsuits, but she also addresses the media's failure to adequately cover the scandal.

Holy Watergate continues the theme of good and evil that has been present throughout most of the documentaries we have watched this semester. For children it seems so easy to recognize right from wrong and good from evil, which is unfortunately what makes them easily victimized. As we grow, however, its becomes apparent that there is no way to recognize evil. It exists among the commonplace and often among the very people we are supposed to trust.