Netflix released a new seven-part documentary a few weeks ago called, "The Keepers". It's a story of sexual abuse at a Catholic High School in Baltimore during the late 1960s and the murder of a young Catholic nun teaching at the school, Sister Catherine Cesnik. While the documentary doesn't relate to Mormonism, per se, it is let another damning indictment of organized religion. I can highly recommend the documentary for your viewing.

Thanks for this. I'll check it out this week.

Some colleagues of mine were discussing this recently. The consensus is that it's a really good documentary, but very graphic and hair-raising. One colleague said that it kept her awake at night. It may be too much for some.

There are a lot of theories in the series that havent been proven. It is pretty clear that there was abuse at the school and that specific priests were involved. It is also clear that it was covered up by church officials and the police. However, the murders of sister Cathy and especially of the other woman may or may not have been related. To definitely tie in Sister Cathy you have to believe Jane Doe's story that Father Maskell took her to see the body and threatened her. That seems a little far fetched, Why would he tell a kid that he had committed murder? Her stories of recovered memories and abuse by several unrelated people also were a little questionable to me. She also said that the priest told her, a high school student at the time, that being abused by an uncle was such a serious sin that she could only be forgiven by receiving the Holy Spirit and that could only happen by giving him oral sex and she apparently believed him. Huh!!!!Really???. I was pretty naive in high school, but there is no way I would have believed that you receive the Holy Spirit by giving a priest oral sex. I found that hard to believe-not that the priest said that,but that she BELIEVED it. I dont know any one that age who would buy that. She may have been helpless to stop the abuse, sure, but naive enough to think this,no. She attended Catholic school, had catechism class and was in her teens. That is not in the catechism and she was not a little child. I just had some problems with her story. That is not to say there wasnt horrible abuse,but I had problems with her story and the jump to the belief that it proved that Father Maskell definitely murdered the nun, let alone the other girl. People are killed at random all the time. These murders may have been totally unrelated-especially the second

Also the OP said this is an indictment of organized religion. I think that is a stretch. It is an indictment of Father Maskell and the others involved in the abuse and cover up. It is not an indictment of all religion. A certain percentage of the population are pedophiles and they are everywhere. Some are priests and other clergy, some are teachers, scout leaders etc. The population of pedophiles is pretty much the same in all groups and we dont blame all members of other groups where someone abuses a child or covers it up.

It was an excellent documentary otherwise and was hard to watch at times.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2017 11:49PM by bona dea.

I found some of the events in the doco to be horrifying - and I guess I had some qualms about the victim's accounts also, though I won't draw any conclusions.

My primary/secondary education was Catholic, and in the same area covered by the documentary (some years prior to the period covered, at different schools). I was never subject to any improprieties, nor heard of anyone else undergoing such.

I'm still in touch with my 5th grade teacher/nun - a great lady, 84 yrs old



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2017 11:11PM by 3X.

Bona Dea, I agree with you. Having been raised Catholic, I don't see a nun falling for the "oral sex" argument. I've also read many accounts written by nuns and former nuns, and her statement doesn't gel with their experiences. I also have a huge problem with the concept of recovered memories.

While a certain percentage of the population are pedophiles, the Catholic church has to take responsibility for willfully harboring them and not turning them in to the authorities. I do consider this to be a deep moral failure on the church's part.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2017 01:20AM by summer.

I agree that the Catholics have sheltered pedohiles, but the point was that they arent the only ones. Other churches and other organizations have protected pedophiles too and by extension protected themselves Covering your ass is not limited to Catholics.

BTW it wasnt the nun who bought into the oral sex argument. It was one of the high school girls who claimed to have been abused by the priest.She didnt remember anything until recently She also claimed that he had taken her to the nun's body and told her that the same would happen to her if she told about the abuse. This is the main thing that tied Sr. Cathy's murder to Fr. Maskell.The nun disappeared while shopping and her body was discovered a few months later. Same thing happened to another girl who wasnt connected with the school. The theory is that Sr.Cathy had taught at the school and was told of the abuse by students and that the priest killed her when she threatened him. The other girl was killed to make it look like a serial killer according to the theory.

I am not convinced Jane Doe's story was accurate, but neither am I saying it wasnt. I just have some questions and I do think that they need to be answered. As for the murders, they could be related to the abuse or totally random. That is especially true of the murder of the second woman.