SINS OF THE FATHERS. A scene from Pablo Larrain's 'The Club'

My first reaction was to blame the projection booth, or the producer who wouldn’t spend enough on good film, or the director who hadn’t thought about basics like lighting, or maybe even my failing eyesight. Where was the light, where was the color? Had it been filmed in an evening sandstorm or with grey gauze over the lens?

But no, director Pablo Larrain knew what he was doing. “The Club” is the story of spiritual darkness, clouded minds, of sunset in miserable lives, of violence and piety. Of pedophiles, men loathed, but still human beings, trapped in a gnawing guilt they stubbornly deny. They are Catholic priests.

Four middle-aged to elderly priests have been sentenced to a house on the remote coast of Chili overlooking a little fishing village, with a nun, Sister Monica, to both feed and supervise them, march them through their daily schedule of breviary, Mass, rosary and hymns and remind them they may not approach townspeople except at approved times.

Their one shared release is to train a brown greyhound to race in local contests, with a dream of winning a state final.

Their lives change radically with the arrival of another priest, Father Lazcano, an arrogant bearded man, like the rest of them in denial of his offenses. But a local fisherman, Sandokan, recognizes him as a priest who sexually abused him years ago and, determined on revenge, plants himself outside the house and screams the priest’s sins in brutal detail, for all to hear. We see a pistol. Bang! Father Lazcano is dead. The parable has become a crime story.

Now another very different priest invades this world, Father Garcia, a crisis counselor, a Jesuit psychologist delegated to write a report. About what? Is the church closing their home? Father Garcia, tall, good-looking, tightly controlled, represents another side of the church, its power and authority. Whether he represents its heart, we shall see.

He interviews them one by one, determined to break the walls that seal off their guilt. Some deny that acting out their homosexuality has been sinful. One is a former army chaplain, another is senile. Another has abducted babies from unwed mothers—for their own good, of course. When Father Garcia asks one, the dog trainer, why he has a dog, the priest replies frankly: “For affection.” Father Garcia orders him to replace it with a cat. He tightens the rules—no more wine, much less meat, more isolation and prayer.

The men grumble. He lashes back. “The church” has sent him to disciple these vulnerable men. He shouts: “I am the church!” What does the director mean by implanting these words in the Jesuit? Does the Jesuit represent a brutal church to the viewers, or is he a frustrated father snapping at his children?

All of these men and their one woman represent various aspects of the church today as it takes a hard look at itself and confesses its sins; despite the punishment of thousands of offenders, the church remains crippled, says this film, by the arrogance of Adam and Eve and the violence of Cain.

The only bright color in the film breaks through in a final brief blazing sunset over the ocean. As we left the preview showing I asked another critic what he thought. He replied: “It is the most depressing thing I have ever seen in my life.” Another critic called it a comedy. A German writer suggested that “It is no stretch to imagine the picture becoming compulsory viewing for all bishops across the planet.” The final words appear on the dark screen: “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.”

Son of Raymond A. Schroth, of Trenton, N. J., a World War I hero and editorial writer and reporter for the Trenton Times, Brooklyn Eagle and New York Herald Tribune for over 40 years, and of Mildred (Murphy) Schroth, of Bordentown, N. J., a teacher in the Trenton public and Catholic school systems, Raymond A. Schroth, S.J., has spent his life as a Jesuit, journalist, and teacher.

After graduating from Fordham College in 1955--where he majored in American civilization, studied in Paris, and was editorial editor of the Fordham Ram--he served as an antiaircraft artillery officer in Germany for two years and joined the Society of Jesus in 1957. Ordained a priest in 1967, he obtained his PhD in American Thought and Culture at the George Washington University and taught journalism at Fordham until 1979. During that time he was also associate and book editor of Commonweal magazine.

After two years as academic dean of Rockhurst College in Kansas City, he became academic dean of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. In 1985-86 he held the Will and Ariel Durant Chair in the Humanities at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City. From 1986 to 1996 he taught journalism at Loyola University in New Orleans and was adviser to the Maroon, its award-winning newspaper. In 1995 the Southeast Journalism Conference named him Journalism Educator of the year. In 1996 he returned to Fordham as assistant dean of Fordham College Rose Hill and director of the Matteo Ricci Society, which prepares students to compete for prestigious fellowships. Meanwhile, from 1967 he served as a resident faculty member in the student residence halls.

He has published eight books, including: The Eagle and Brooklyn: A Community Newspaper (Greenwood); Books for Believers: 35 Books Every Catholic Should Read (Paulist); with Jeff Theilman, Volunteer: with the Poor in Peru (Paulist); and The American Journey of Eric Sevareid (Steerforth), a biography of the CBS commentator.

In 1999 he moved to Saint Peter's College, where he wrote two books: From Dante to Dead Man Walking: One Person's Journey through Great Religious Literature and Fordham: A History and Memoir, (Loyola Press in 2001-2002). In 2000 Saint Peter's College named him the Jesuit Community Professor in the Humanities. In Spring 2003 he was made editor of the national Jesuit university review, Conversations and will continue to serve in this position until 2013. His The American Jesuits: A History, (New York University Press, 2007), was followed by Bob Drinan: The Controversial Life of the First Catholic Priest Elected to Congress, (Fordham University Press, 2010). He taught a graduate journalism course at NYU in 2004 and journalism history at Brooklyn College in 2006.

In recent summers he has traveled to Gabon, South Africa, Peru, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, France, Thailand, Vietnam, Cuba, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, and China to educate himself, write articles, and take pictures. In 2003 his National Catholic Reporter media essays won the Catholic Press Association's best cultural columnist award. His over 300 articles on politics, religion, the media, and literature have appeared in many publications, including the Columbia Journalism Review, Commonweal, America, the New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, Kansas City Star, Boston Globe and the Newark Star Ledger, where he was a weekly online columnist for several years. From time to time he lectures and appears on radio and TV. He is listed in Who's Who and Contemporary Authors. In his free time he swims, bikes, walks, reads, goes to movies and restaurants, and prays.