Procession is a
documentary movie that explores the impact of sexual abuse at the hands of some
in the Roman Catholic Church from various priests largely out of the Kansas
City Kansas, Kansas City Missouri locations. Released in November of 2021 on Netflix this
documentary maintains legs and continues to draw viewers. The issue of sexual abuse is one that hits
hard as me as an award winning short and documentary regarding my own abuse,
along with 2 hours of special features has been released as well as my book The
Keystone Kid chronicles my life of abuse and its impact. My own experiences
made watching the film difficult and although my abuse didn’t come at the hands
of the church, some within the church were involved and the longtime trauma was
certainly much the same as what I saw on screen and that is something unique
about this documentary. So it was, after being made aware of this movie by a
listener to the weekly radio show I participate on at KFH Radio in Wichita
Kansas with Jeff and Bob Lutz that I decided to watch this one right away after
the recommendation. My willingness to appreciate the listeners and readers who
make recommendations is one of the few smart things I’ve done in life. This is
an example of that.
Procession is a documentary
that is largely directed and edited by Robert Green. The film follows the
stories of 6 men who have been sexually abused. The uniqueness and beauty,
complete with its own sadness is that all 6 men are involved in the telling of
the story where they reenact there, and each other’s stories in dramatic form. As
the men go through the process, we see their stories and the impact of their experience’s
years later not just on screen, but in real life. I could personally relate to
the dream and nightmare sequences we see portrayed as well as the triggers of
going back to locations where the abuse took place. We see the long-term impact of abuse as well,
especially in situations where people either don’t want to hear, know about, or
act on the abuse of the perpetrators of abuse. We see the impact of many within
the “Church,” that either does not seem to care or certainly is unwilling to
act on the abuse. They focus more on maintaining the image of the Church and
less on the life-time trauma on the victims of abuse. The place of healing is difficult to come to
in part because of the long-term trauma and the realization that people either
don’t seem to care or are more concerned about their religious dogmas.
This film is powerful as
we see everyone relive and work through their stories. Each person’s
experiences are responded to differently. We see one individual who is gone to
a place of withdrawal from society, another who has developed difficulty
relating to others, another who has become a rather brash confrontational
individual, and more. They feel largely misunderstood
because they are misunderstood. Their being misunderstood is a point I strongly
related to. I often tell people, if they really want to understand me, they will
read my book, but often, if not most of the time, they won’t. For those who have they understand the impact
of abuse on the life of an individual, it is painful to relive experiences of
this sort, and this movie details that, not just me, but the six characters in
the film and ultimately, for virtually everyone who has gone through a level of
abuse. I don’t know if it is different for women, but as a man, this is very
much the case.
There is a lot to ponder
in this film. I ponder the reasons as to why the Roman Catholic Church, and I
believe other churches, are so reluctant to address sexual abuse cases within
their congregations? I know from
experiences as I offer to speak at churches and other groups regarding my own
abuse, that I have had people actually get up, walk out of a service, because
according to those individuals as they have told me, these are issues that
should not be addressed in churches. I also know for a fact, that virtually
every church I have ever spoken at I have had individuals in every case come to
tell me about abuse in the church, from janitors, to pastors, and from deacons
to others in the church. Yet, many
churches do now want to have this discussion despite the reality that I know I
have seen healing from people being able to discuss it for the first time in
their lives. That is the starting point of healing.
As questioned in the documentary,
I wonder what these religious leaders will say to Jesus when they see Jesus regarding
their abuse. I can’t help to think of Jesus own words in Luke 17: 1-3 “that it
would be better to tie a heavy stone around your neck and throw yourself into
the sea than to do harm to a little one.” Yet, many, (not all) of those in
ministry purposes where they are called to help others, spend time doing a
lifetime of harm instead of good, to of all people, initially children when in
reality, the harm to that child doesn’t just last for a moment, but lasts for a
lifetime.
In today’s world of
social media and a world where it seems easier to argue, be critical and
condemning of others for whatever reason, maybe just maybe we can take the time
to learn more about issues like abuse. One of the beautiful things about some
things we can see on the screen can have an impact on providing knowledge and
understanding. Maybe the person we don’t understand has reasons or things that
are going on that have driven them to that point. While this isn’t always the
reason, sometimes maybe it is. I do believe though, again from my own experiences,
that sometimes, a friend who is willing to be there during tough times, or even
someone who cares enough to say things like, I would really like you to watch
this movie to let me know what you think in one way, or another is being used
by God to help you address issues you are going through. Then again, maybe
writing about a movie like Procession is a way to let others know who may read
this review realize they are not alone.
To those who have been
abused, male, or female, you are not alone. I realize that due to the trauma
for some of reliving experiences reliving or being reminded of those
experiences may not be a good thing, for others it provides a sense of reality
that you are not alone. I can’t
recommend this to everyone for that reason, but I can say, think about it, consider
it. For others though, I highly recommend it to understand the emotions, traumas
that some have gone through. I also challenge though to the Church and
individual churches, STAND UP! Speak out against abuse and provide help to
those abused in your congregations. We
either act on the concept of love, or we just run our mouths and are no better
than those priests/pastors with their clanging bells on their robes who make a
lot of noise but in reality do nothing more than make obnoxious deafening noise.
On a scale of 1 -10 I would really like to have seen the documentary acted out
in docudrama form in its entirety. This
one would have made two great movies, instead of one very good documentary, so
I give it a very well deserved 8, just a tad short of what I wanted, but still
what I needed.
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