The Catholic Church has lost over 100,000 priests in the last 25 years.

Conspiracy of Silence

If priests are not inherently better than the average Joe, how can they possible be looked upon with authority in spiritual matters? In addition to their vow of poverty, there is also the often broken vow of celibacy that is supposed to bring these men closer to God; there by giving them solid ground to stand on when they assert their powers of absolution and more importantly, their power of judgment in the name of God.

Conspiracy of Silence takes viewers to a place which most Catholics will condemn and most probably attempt to ignore; a place where priests are not merely servants of God and preachers of faith, but also men. They are human beings with the same desires, the same thoughts, and the same failings as everyone else.

By admitting this, what would initially seem obvious, fact to the world, it takes away one very important, very powerful element of the Catholic Church; one which I have personally felt has needed to go for a very long time"¦ fear. Admitting that your priest or monsignor craves certain human indulgences like chocolate cake or dirty jokes or god forbid sex, does not take away his years of study and his unique insight into the text of the bible. What it does take away, however, is the pedestal that the Catholic Church would have you place him upon. If he is not above you, then you do not need his absolution and you certainly would not concern yourself with his judgment.

We all know the corrupt nature of the history of the Catholic Church and how long it took for that history to become public knowledge. This movie focuses on bringing another, perhaps lesser known fact about the priesthood into the light"¦ they were not always celibate. That requirement came into being for one extremely familiar reason, money. Married priests were bequeathing all of there worldly possessions to their families in lieu of the church. Mandatory celibacy rectified that situation.

Conspiracy introduces us to the next generation of priests in Ireland. Now, brace yourselves, because these soon-to-be priests are not what you're expecting. It's so hard for us to think of priests as anything other than old white-haired curmudgeons with glasses on the tips of their noses, bibles under their arm and an unflinching look of disapproval in their eyes; but this movie shows us what they look like when they're still just boys. They're all just young men who enjoy playing football, drinking, cursing and are even questioning their sexuality. They also just happen to be at a seminary on their way to the priesthood.

When Daniel McLaughlin (Jonathan Forbes), perhaps the most gifted and promising student at St. Saviour's Roman Catholic Seminary in Ireland, is wrongly accused of

sexual impropriety with another student and cast out of the seminary, all hell breaks lose in the community. (Pardon the pun) Complicating matters is the as yet unexplained suicide of Father Frank Sweeny (Patrick Casey) a man who in the opening scene of the film declares that "The Church Has AIDS."

Caught between the truth and this Catholic version of the Blue Wall, is journalist David Foley (Jason Barry), who despite the effect it has on his somewhat estranged family life, pursues and attempts to uncover the truth behind this conspiracy.

I was really impressed by the quality of this film and upon reflection in fact should not have been as surprised as I admittedly was. Everything from the writing, the directing and the casting were superb. I think American audiences, and critics as well, should begin to pay more attention to what comes out of that Country Isle which has given us some amazing films in the recent past and some of the world's biggest celebrities. Lest we forget the on going and forever growing list of household names like U2 in the music world and Colin Farrell the ultimate bad boy in the Feature Film arena.

While this films release is limited, I urge anyone who has the means to go out and support it to do so. If you miss it in the theaters it's definitely worth the DVD buy.

Disillusioned Catholics, progressive Catholics, raised but non-practicing Catholics and basically anyone with a grievance against the Catholic Church will doubtless be the core audience and derive the most from this film, however, it can be an edifying experience for any denomination.

Movie Grade: A-