A Real Monster Movie
Deliver Us From Evil documents the case of a notorious pedophile priest, who molested more than two dozen children before going to jail. We talked to the director about the making of the film.
by Stefan Ulstein | posted 10/25/2006
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The new documentary Deliver Us From Evil describes Father Oliver O'Grady as "the most notorious pedophile in the history of the modern Catholic Church." O'Grady allegedly molested more than two dozen children—as young as nine months old—in his northern California diocese for more than two decades. The church, meanwhile, allegedly covered up O'Grady's crimes, lying to parishioners and law enforcement while shuffling the priest from parish to parish. O'Grady was eventually caught, convicted, and prosecuted, and spent seven years in prison before fleeing to Ireland as a relative unknown
Director Amy Berg
Amy Berg, a CNN journalist who had done a story about abusive priests, wanted to explore the topic further. She spent eight days in Ireland, where O'Grady had fled after his prison term, interviewing the former priest in his neighborhood. In the film, O'Grady speaks of his sexual desires as calmly as if he were talking about a flower garden. Those candid interviews, combined with further reporting and interviews with O'Grady's victims, make up much of Deliver Us From Evil, now playing in limited theaters
Berg, who describes herself as a non-religious Jew, says she wants to tell the victims' stories and expose the ecclesiastical corruption that makes it possible for priests to continue preying on children. In this interview with Christianity Today Movies, Berg doesn't come across as having an anti-religion bias, but as one who is able to see the tragedy of clerical child abuse from a different vantage point
We're told that there is no cure for pedophilia and that predators simply do not repent. What was your take on O'Grady?
Amy Berg: We don't know if he's repentant or not, though he's really willing to talk. I think he's so used to receiving absolution that he sees himself as kind of above his deeds.
He doesn't use the word "rape" when he talks about his actions?
Berg: No, he doesn't. He says "inappropriate touching and fondling." He kind of goes around it.
People are surprised that you could get a convicted pedophile to speak on camera?
Berg: Me too. I've done a lot of stories on this and I've tried to talk to a lot of priests to try to understand the psychology behind it. He's the first one who didn't put his hand in my face and tell me to go away.
How do you think he'd respond to the film if he saw it?
Berg: I think honestly he would not dislike the film. I think it's an accurate depiction of him.
In the film, he said his happiest times were when he was in jail. What do think he meant?
The pedophile priest, interviewed in a church
Berg: He was confined to a group of people who knew who he was, who all had similar problems. I think it's probably easier than when you are holding this secret that is so terrible. I'm just guessing.
He got caught a lot over all those years. You get the sense that when he talks about the disciplinary meetings that he almost wanted to get caught?
Berg: Yes. You see him writing confessional letters, then getting in trouble for it from his bishop. Going to therapy, telling his therapist about the molestation, the therapist going to the police, and then with the police involved, he's still not taken out. He'd been crutched by the church for so long he was just waiting for the ax to fall, I would imagine.
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