Jesus' inviting phrase "Let the children come to me" has another meaning for all the hundreds of thousands of little things that have been subjected to sexual abuse by Catholic pedophile priests over the years.
The Bible quote is uttered a bit into the second act and becomes a painful, ironic commentary on what goes on inside the church walls, and at the same time a headline for the film's theme.

The French director and screenwriter François Ozon has created a reality-based fiction that is largely based on words: spoken, written, exasperated by crying adults who were exploited in their childhood.
This is the story of how, a few years ago, it was revealed that French priest Bernard Preynat has for decades been sexually abusing children - despite the fact that several of his superiors knew what he was doing.

The focus is on the five-year-old father of Alexandre, who suffered in silence for 30 years, but who just over 10 years ago began his struggle for redress. The drop that made his mental cup run over was the realization that Preynat was still allowed to work with children, and when Alexandre set the ball rolling, many came and testified. But things are going slow at first, not least because the Cardinal in Lyon, Barbarin, is trying to delay the case.

The story is well documented so Ozone has had many quotes to choose from. Some sting properly, showing the galloping arrogance of the church.
Like Preynats, when he actually admits his deeds:

“I've always been attracted to children. It has caused me a lot of suffering, ”says the pedophile soulmate, not realizing how sick the egocentric statement is.

Or like Cardinal Barbarin when he commented on the old cases in a press conference by saying:

"With God's providence, the crime has been prescribed."

The idea of ​​trying to slip away guilt and responsibility is so ingrained in him and the church that Barbarin does not seem to understand what he stands and hatches.

When Alexandre and his fellow combatants manage to find some men who were exploited within the time of limitation, everything is rolled up. Well, maybe not everything. A culture of silence is not broken so quickly. The desire to tone down and hide away still seems to be there.

The prolific French filmmaker François Ozon usually takes the turns more, in both image and text (among other things in the masterpiece Franz), but here he is dry account, on the border of long lines, with all read letters and rendered conversations. But then it is also a hyper-sensitive substance that is best portrayed with a cold head.
It's a movie that wants to light up, not shit down.

Because even though Ozone obviously stands on the victim's side, the script is surprisingly balanced. He does not have the whole Catholic Church in sight, but its descents. The abuse of power, the abuse and the culture of silence that enabled them.

Of course, despite the academic attitude, the material is deeply engaging, not to mention pure cracking. Not least because the script tells about the injuries that the trauma has caused the victims, throughout their lives. And of course, because you can assume that the abuse is still going on.
The Pope has indeed issued zero tolerance for pedophilia, but if you believe the film, and testimony from all corners of the world, the message does not seem to have reached all the priests.

It is symptomatic that church officials tried to stop the publication of In God's name. The French premiere was undoubtedly well-timed until February this year, shortly before the case would be tried in court, and the applicants were afraid that history would give people a negative view of the church. Which probably wasn't a completely wrong assumption ...

Twice Francois Ozon was forced to stand trial, to defend his film. This is despite the fact that none of the detractors had seen the film - which is often the case when the various institutions of power try to stop uncomfortable culture.

Other notable films about Catholic abuse :

Spotlight (2016)

Star-studded Oscar winner on Catholic pedophiles in the United States.

Philomena (2013)

Steve Coogan and Judy Dench in drama about a woman who grew up in a Catholic monastery.

The Magdalen Sisters (2002)

British drama about the terrorist regime of the notorious Irish Magdalen Sisters.