By the Grace of God

A well-made film about dignity in the face of hypocrisy

Rape is the forcible violation of the sexual intimacy of another person. It does injury to justice and charity. Rape deeply wounds the respect, freedom, and physical and moral integrity to which every person has a right. It causes grave damage that can mark the victim for life. It is always an intrinsically evil act. Graver still is the rape of children committed by parents (incest) or those responsible for the education of the children entrusted to them.

• Pope John Paul II; Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae (1992)

L__a majorité des faits, grâce à Dieu, sont prescrits. [The majority of cases, by the grace of God, are inadmissible]

• Cardinal Archbishop of Lyon Philippe Barbarin, referring to the suspected 85 cases of abuse perpetrated by Fr. Bernard Preynat, most of which fall outside the twenty-year statute of limitations (March 15, 2016)

Sexual violation is at the heart of the church's crisis today and threatens its sacredness. It is not about priests who are straight or gay. Rather, it is about a void of intimacy. The predator lacks true friendship. His yearning for it takes on unfathomable proportions. He tries to figure out what is missing by violating another – a child.

This was tolerated and covered up in the church for far too long. Truth didn't seem to matter. Clericalism ruled. Secrets abounded. Files were concealed. Grand juries were never a part of the lexicon. But victims never forget.

• Mark Joseph Williams; "Opinion: I Was Sexually Abused by a Catholic Priest. The Church Must Listen to Victims"; The New York Times (February 21, 2019)

_I make a heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas, on the part of all authorities and individuals, for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth: this is demanded by all the many victims hidden in families and in the...

A cleverly put together foray into this most highly sensitive of subjects tells three different, though conjoining, stories about men who were all abused by the same priest in their childhood. The film is as much about the ways in which they (and their families) have/have not reconciled themselves to this most heinous of behaviour by someone trusted by all, as it is about their subsequent pursuit of this man, and of the broader church in order to stop this happening again. It's told in quite a sober fashion - but that does rob it of some of the more essential emotions and can leave it feeling just a little too "dry". It is also far too long - the style in which François Ozon chooses to relate these stories allows for more development of the individual characters but at the expense of any real punch.