Savio Rodrigues, former Congress leader and editor-in-chief of Goa Chronicle, in collaboration with South Indian filmmaker R. Joseph Kennedy has started pre-production work on ‘Hail Mary’, a movie about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church which is slated for a global release in 2019.
‘Hail Mary’ – Out of the depths of my pain I cry out to thee Oh God!
Releasing globally in 2019. The truth will shock. pic.twitter.com/hv4shXCVXU— Savio Rodrigues ?? (@PrinceArihan) November 7, 2018
Talking about the movie, Rodrigues said, “With Hail Mary particularly we never came up with the idea, the idea kind of found us by divine providence. We believe some stories need to be told because it is in accepting the truth that true enlightenment is experienced.”
“The project is based on real stories of abuse, pain and betrayal but more importantly about the power of faith in one’s belief in God. It is a film about survivors in India. Sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is real,” Rodrigues added.
Filmmaker Kennedy elaborated on the issue the movie is going to focus on, “This is not a commercial film, neither is this an art film. It is a film about the truth. We want our film to be the voice of the survivors. We have a responsibility to the women who have dedicated their life to service in their love for their faith.”
Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has been completely exposed in the past decade. However, in India, the issue is still not spoken of a lot. Most recently, in Kerala, the entire Church machinery came in defense of a bishop accused of rape while the nuns who raised their voice against the menace were punished.