UNITED STATES
Lexington Herald-Leader
BY MIKE RIVAGE-SEUL
You really ought to see “The Keepers.” It will scare the hell out of you — especially if you’re a Catholic. The Netflix docuseries in seven parts tells the story of an unsolved murder of a young Catholic nun in Baltimore. The apparent perps were two Catholic priests.
I watched the film with one of my sisters who had attended Catholic schools for 12 years. “The Keepers” became our point of discussion for our two days together. Its portrayal of the cynical use of religion to exploit innocent children had us discussing Catholic schools, the pedophilia scandal, confession, outdated church teachings in general — and especially the exclusion of women from church leadership.
We found ourselves sympathizing with those (including close friends and relatives) who have left the church as irredeemably corrupt. No wonder, we agreed, “former Catholics” represent the second largest religious “denomination” in the country (with 22.8 million), behind members of the official Catholic church at 68.1 million.
“The Keepers” investigates the murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, a high school English teacher, who disappeared shortly after confronting authorities about widespread sexual abuse at the prestigious Keough Girls’ High School in Baltimore. Two chaplains there used the confessional to identify young females who would be vulnerable to their sexual depredations. Eventually they ended up sharing their victims with school outsiders, including police officials.
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