I don't forgive you, Father, for your sins

Palo Verde, Arizona --

"Twist of Faith," a straightforward, unblinking documentary by Palo Verde High School graduate Kirby Dick, slips a sad, beleaguered face on the statistics and media posturing of the Catholic sex-abuse scandals.

The face belongs to Toledo, Ohio, firefighter Tony Comes, whose seemingly normal life is torn asunder when he confronts his past, in which he was molested as a youth by priest Dennis Gray.

Spurred on by other allegations nationwide, as well as by the realization that Gray has moved into his neighborhood, Comes reports the decades-ago abuse to his bishop, who lies to Comes, insisting that Gray has never been accused of molestation.

Dick matter-of-factly tracks Comes' quest to expose Gray and the church for its sins. The film is difficult to watch but illuminating as a piece of hard, spare journalism, and it's easy to see why it was nominated for the documentary Oscar that went to "Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids."

When Comes discovers that Gray has indeed been accused in the past, he files a lawsuit, and after some hesitation he decides to go public with his identity. Comes loses respect for the church hierarchy, even as his friends and mother argue that the Catholic Church as a whole has done enough good to make up for its faults.

Read the article at The Arizona Daily Star Dated July 7, 2005

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