Pray for Our Sinners documents Sinéad O’Shea’s return to her hometown, Navan, to explore the impact of the Catholic Church on the community in decades past. Through first hand testimonies, the film reveals the plight of unmarried mothers; the horrors of mother and baby homes and the prevalence of violence against children in Catholic schools. A handful of extraordinary figures chose to resist the pervasive power of the church: a woman who refused to give her baby up for adoption, a 9-year-old boy who dared to speak out against his teachers’ physical abuse; and a couple who established a family planning service and campaigned for the abolition of corporal punishment. Through the voices of these gently heroic characters, Pray for Our Sinners adds texture to our understanding of a time when the Catholic Church was all-powerful and communities were more compliant with its dictates.

Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn

Screening as part of Best of Irish 2023.