Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012) on Netflix
TV-1420121h 46mDocumentary
Four deaf men abused by a priest at St. John's School for the Deaf set out to expose him. Their case became the first known public protest of its kind.
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- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb8.0/104,295 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes98%
Trailer
Plot summary
Four deaf men who were students at St. John's School for the Deaf in the mid-1960s say they were abused by the priest Lawrence Murphy. Terry Kohut, Gary Smith, Pat Kuehn and Arthur Budzinski describe what happened to them and how they spoke out, in the first publicly known protest of its kind in the United States. Their accounts open onto a wider look at the Catholic Church's handling of such complaints, a trail that runs from Wisconsin to Ireland and on to the Vatican. The Latin title translates as "through my most grievous fault," a line in the Roman Catholic Mass.
Cast
- Terry Kohutas Himself - St. John's School for the Deaf, 1960-1969
- Gary Smithas Himself - St. John's School for the Deaf, 1954-1970
- Pat Kuehnas Himself - St. John's School for the Deaf, 1969-1973
- Arthur Budzinskias Himself - St. John's School for the Deaf, 1953-1964
- Lawrence Murphyas Himself - priest, St. John's School for the Deaf, 1950-1974 (archive footage)
- Richard Sipeas Himself - Former Benedictine Monk / Mental Health Counselor
Show all 20 cast
- Scott Kuehnas Himself (archive footage)
- Angela Kuehnas Herself (archive footage)
- Patrick Wallas Himself - Former Benedictine Monk (as Patrick J. Wall)
- Bob Bolgeras Himself - St. John's School for the Deaf (archive footage)
- John Conwayas Himself - Counselor for the Deaf
- Jim Heydendahlas Himself - Senior Boys' Dorm Supervisor, 1972-1974
- Geoffrey Robertsonas Himself - Human Rights Lawyer (as Geoffrey Robertson QC)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The documentary tells the story of four deaf men, Terry Kohut, Gary Smith, Pat Kuehn and Arthur Budzinski, who staged the first known public protest against clerical sex abuse in the United States, after being abused at St. John's School for the Deaf in the mid-1960s.
- Mea Maxima Culpa was the first of many collaborations between director Alex Gibney and HBO, after premiering at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and opening in limited release on November 16, 2012.
- In 2013, Mea Maxima Culpa won three of its six Primetime Emmy nominations, including Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking, and also took a Peabody Award for empowering long-silenced victims and unveiling clandestine Church practices.
