Devil's Playground

Body of Christ.

Amen.

Body of Christ. Amen.

Body of Christ. Amen.

Body of Christ.

Amen.

Body of Christ. Amen.

Hello, Miss Bridie Allen.

Do you know where Peter is? Oh, that boy!

He promised Father he'd do altar service this week.

Well, David has decided that he's an atheist now, hasn't he, Bridie?

Yeah. Are you the 23rd?

Sorry, should I know this?

Parent-teacher night. I thought if you were, we could take one car.

Sure, sure. Oi! I know what time

'Doctor Who' starts, Miss. I'll see you later, Tom.

Bye. See ya.

What about Edith for my confirmation name?

Edith? Oh, Bridie!

Um, Dad, it's Mrs. Kelly.

Thanks, sweetie.

Hey, what's up?

Peter's not over there, is he?

No, why? I thought this would

stop once Joe moved out. Well, Peter never stays away

for long, does he? No.

Do you want me to pop over?

Father Andrassi's here.

OK.

I'd better get off the line.

Look, I'll leave the back door open and the light on just in case

he turns up. Thanks, Tom.

Bye.

Righto, boys, give him some encouragement!

Up that hill to Calvary!

Oh, yes.

Well done, Mr. Darcy, well done. That's the way. Who's next?

Me! Me! Me!

How about Cavanagh?

Mind your toes. Whoops, sorry about that. Are you alright?

My tummy doesn't feel so good, Father.

Oh, really, Cavanagh? What do you think the Romans would

have done if Christ said, "Oh, no, thanks, Centurion, my tummy doesn't

feel too good."

Go on! Jesus took up

the painful weight of all our sins, willingly, with courage, no matter

how upset his tummy was. Hm? Yes, Father.

Good boy. Give him some encouragement, he's gonna do it.

Off you go! Good boy! Go for it, Cavanagh!

And Turner, you're next.

Come on, everybody, no stragglers.

That's the boy. You're next, Turner.

Keep going. Good boy. Well done.

I could go to jail for this.

Well, isn't that what you want?

To be punished? Why would you say that?

Well, your life growing up was very unstable, wasn't it?

You had to follow the rules, or there'd be violent consequences.

You left your father's house many years ago, but it sounds

to me like you've taken the need to be perfect with you.

And Anthony, that is...

That's just an impossible way to live.

Here's an idea.

What if you were the one to come clean to them?

That make a difference?

It's a-it's a huge institution.

I'm sure there's nothing your boss hasn't heard,

hasn't-hasn't dealt with.

And if they get rid of me?

What do I do then?

Who am I then?

I need to pray.

I'll pray with you.

Brother. Good morning, Brother. Morning, boys.

Hey, Brother. Good morning, Sergeant.

Boys. Morning, Brother.

Mr. Darcy, wait over here, please. Morning, Brother.

Quick, quick, quick. Morning, Brother.

Morning. Morning. Morning, Brother.

Morning. Quick as you can. Morning, Brother.

Did you know Peter Kelly didn't come home last night?

No, Brother. Elliott's Peter's best friend.

Not really, Brother.

Well, uh, has Peter ever mentioned where he goes when he runs away?

He's not in trouble. We just want to find him.

You have no idea where he is?

Well, perhaps we can, uh, speak to some of the other boys.

I'm trying to understand, My Lord, when you said, "If the law of today

is corrupt or immoral, you have a duty to God not to obey it."

Yes. But isn't that civil disobedience?

I can explain it this way.

Ah, ya tosser!

If there's a conflict between your conscience

and a bad law, there's no conflict.

Oh, My Lord, I'm so-I'm so... Always follow the guidance of Rome.

Aw, your loss. His Worship, Bishop Vincent Quaid.

"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.

To one without faith, no explanation is possible."

St. Thomas Aquinas, great teacher of men.

St. Thomas, of course, who was

locked in a tower by his family, to temper the fervour of his calling.

A tower that was meant to break him instead made him stronger.

That tower, surrounded by evil and falsehood,

became the symbol of his faith.

This college of Opus Dei

is a tower for our times.

You young men are the defenders of that tower.

Cos out there,

on your campus,

abortion, perversion,

homosexuality, moral depravity,

dressed up as personal conscience.

Not half a mile away, drug addicts

are given needles to inject their poison, funded by our government!

But in here,

is the one true church.

The one Holy Catholic church.

Remember the words of our Lord, "Veni mittere ignem in terram."

"I come to spread fire on this earth!"

Genocide! Gays and lesbians under attack! What do we do?

Act up! Fight back! We are dealing with genocide!

This way, My Lord.

Tom Allen to see Bishop McNally.

Just take a seat. Thank you.

Dr Allen's here.

Dr Allen.

I appreciate you coming in. Not at all.

So you found the place alright?

Yes, My Lord.

John, please.

Actually, your secretary didn't say why you wanted to see me.

It's ready, My Lord. Could you get Betty to make

two copies, please?

I understand you've been treating Father Donoghue.

We weren't aware of it. Well, I, I see Anthony privately.

Is that a problem? No, not at all.

In fact, I wanted to thank you personally.

Anthony's a good priest. Take a seat.

We don't see any need to involve the police.

So, he has spoken to you?

The amount of money involved is trivial.

The Cathedral will ensure that the parish is not out of pocket.

I understand it was you who convinced him to confess?

Oh, well I can't actually reveal

the content of sessions, John, but I can say that it-

it took a lot of courage for Anthony to come and see you.

Oh, he couldn't have gotten away with it for much longer.

Although, as a psychiatrist, aren't you duty-bound to report a crime?

Well, depends on the seriousness of the crime and whether or not I felt

Father Anthony would offend again.

The law can be quite accommodating to psychiatrists.

Not only priests, then. Well.

Treat any other clergy?

Well, I actually didn't know that Anthony was a priest at first.

Oh? I thought you'd spot a religious with your background.

Milk? Uh, and sugar, please.

On track to become a Brother at one time, weren't you?

How did you know that?

"Practically an angel." Was how one of your classmates remembered you.

Well, that didn't quite work out, unfortunately. My vocation, I mean.

You still attend mass? Yes.

Take the sacraments?

Confession all too rarely, I'm afraid.

Ah, a thoroughly modern Australian Catholic. Are you a person

who supports the Church's attempts to reform herself?

Am I at confession now, John?

I do apologise.

And now it's my turn to confess, I suppose.

The last 25 years have been

a difficult and stressful time for many of us clergy.

Vatican II asked priests to change, to turn and face the people.

Literally.

To become of the congregation and not above it.

It was quite a profound transformation.

Superman to Clark Kent, almost.

Exactly.

Added to that the falling number of vocations, smaller presbyteries,

equals a lot of confused and very

lonely priests who I think would benefit from seeing someone and,

and to talk about how they're travelling.

You want me to become the church psychiatrist?

For one priest, initially.

Well, poor fellow's been having fainting spells associated

with his ministry, but if therapy's successful it could run to more.

Many more.

Now, I know you've got a family and a busy practice.

It's a big decision.

Take the week to think about it.

Let me give you a blessing before you leave, Dr Allen.

Holy Father, guide your servant, Tom, in his work,

as he who honours man, honours you.

Help him with his healing, through Christ our Lord, amen.

Amen.

Thank you, Tom. Been a pleasure, John.

Terribly sorry to hear about your wife.

How's everything at home?

Rachel excited about her Holy Communion?

Yes, Brother. Good, good.

I was an only child myself.

There was no-one I could- I could muck around with or