Twist of Faith

It's been years since Catholic priests sexually abusing young boys has made headline news, but the issue shows little sign of abating (indeed, in February 2006, retired priest Michael Wempe, who admitted to molesting 13 boys in the 1970s and '80s, was convicted of abusing another young man in the '90s). Kirby Dick's Oscar-nominated 2004 documentary Twist of Faith takes a highly personal approach, focusing on two men in Toledo, Ohio, a victim and his offender: Tony Comes, a married-with-children fireman now in his mid-30s, who some 20 years earlier was molested by priest Dennis Gray, the evil-eyed monster who's seen here in a 2003 legal deposition, evading questions on the advice of his lawyer. Comes is remarkably honest, the classic example of a trusting kid who found himself in a situation he describes as “too screwed up to question,” which left him “so confounded that (he did) nothing.” For two decades Comes was racked by guilt and shame, convinced he was the only victim, but when the scandal broke nationally, he confided in his wife and kids, joined a support group, and eventually filed a lawsuit designed to make all concerned—not only the pedophile priests but those in the Toledo diocese who ignored, lied about, and covered up the abuse—acknowledge and take responsibility for what happened. The nightmares and family problems experienced by Comes and other victims seen here are disturbing enough, but the bigger picture is even bleaker: these are people who put their faith in the essential benevolence of the Catholic Church, only to be utterly betrayed by it, and left with a wound that can never be healed. Recommended. (S. Graham)