What happens when a Catholic priest admits (on camera) to molesting dozens of children…and the Church still protected him for years?
Trailer for “Deliver Us From Evil”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- In the 1970s-1990s, Father Oliver O’Grady molested and raped roughly 25 children across several Northern California parishes. Church leaders knew about multiple complaints. But instead of removing him, they reassigned him to new parishes where families had no idea about his past.
- After being convicted of child molestation in 1993, O’Grady served about seven years in prison. Then was deported back to Ireland. In the film, Berg tracks him down in 2005 and interviews him as he casually walks around Dublin discussing his crimes.
- Internal church documents and sworn depositions show that LA Archbishop Roger Mahony and other officials had detailed knowledge of O’Grady’s abuse years before his conviction. They kept him in ministry anyway.
- After the documentary aired on Dutch television in 2010, people in a parish in Schiedam recognized O’Grady. He had been volunteering there and organizing children’s parties until January 2010. No one in the parish knew about his history.
Watch “Deliver Us From Evil”
You can watch “Deliver Us From Evil” on Prime Video here.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 91/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 89/100 (Users); 100/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Amy Berg directed this documentary. It was her breakout film and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Berg later directed “Janis: Little Girl Blue.”
Release Date: 2006.
My Review of “Deliver Us From Evil”
The Setup
This documentary tells the story of Father Oliver O’Grady. He was a Catholic priest who worked in parishes in Northern California starting in the 1970s.
Over the next decade, families began reporting that O’Grady had sexually abused their children.
More Highlights from the Doc
- One mother says she trusted O’Grady so much that she let him take her young daughters on overnight trips. She later learned that he had abused them.
- The documentary includes deposition footage where church officials answer questions under oath. Many of their answers are vague or defensive. This becomes almost as disturbing as the crimes themselves.
- Psychologists in the film explain that O’Grady followed a pattern often seen in institutional abuse cases.
- Survivors describe the long-term damage the abuse caused. Many struggled with broken relationships, substance abuse, and trauma that followed them into adulthood.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- O’Grady was once sent to a treatment center for abusive priests in New Mexico.
- Some church officials believed transferring abusive priests would prevent scandal and avoid lawsuits. This practice later came to light in Catholic dioceses across the United States.
- The film includes real videotaped depositions from civil lawsuits.
- Director Amy Berg started researching the story after reading about abuse cases in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. She realized many people did not understand how widespread the cover-ups had been.
Wrap Up:
“Deliver Us From Evil” is one of the most chilling documentaries about institutional failure I’ve seen. It shows how an entire system allowed those crimes to continue for years.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc