UNITED STATES
The Virginia Gazette
The award-winning movie “Spotlight” follows The Boston Globe ‘Spotlight Team” as they investigate widespread child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Catholic priests. Their work brought the issue to the fore, not just in Boston, but around the world. Their diligence as journalists was a major catalyst in bringing about accountability within the church but also on shining a light on the devastation that resulted in the lives of the victims.
The movie is based on a series of stories by the actual Spotlight team that earned the Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. As the movie unfolds we see the factual basis of the ongoing cover-up by the Boston Archdiocese. The team, through persistent, careful research, uncovered many incidents of abuse; the number of priest abusers and victims far greater than even they had originally thought. If these veteran reporters were shocked, and saddened, think of the impact on the general population and especially the millions of Catholic faithful whose faith in their church and its leaders was put into serious question.
The investigative team was well aware that congregations within the church, especially members of a strong lay ministry, would dispute their findings, hence the intense checking and double checking of facts. There were numerous legal documents filed with the court in Boston that the Archdiocese, guided by Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, intercepted to prevent them from becoming public record. Priests who were discovered to be abusive were simply moved to another parish, some many times; unwittingly the church supplied more victims. The public image of the Catholic Church took precedence over the heartache and devastation of the victims.
The Catholic Church would wish us to believe that the issue has been resolved. Certainly they have been forced to pay out millions of dollars in restitution, forced being the operative word, as they still require a signed victim-confidentiality agreement at the time of payment. Anyone who thinks that the number of lives affected by this is minimal needs to revisit the factual findings of this whole disgraceful scandal. Cases continue to be filed, but there remains within the church hierarchy an attitude of concealment and denial. Even “good priests” wishing to comment publicly find themselves relocated to a Mission area, where media exposure is less available. Cardinal Law was forced to resign but was reassigned a comfortable position in Rome, under the protective cloak of the Vatican. A general, blanket statement with regard to the abusing priests being required to undergo counseling was supposed to reassure the faithful that all was under control. No actual facts about consequences for any church individual were released and no follow up for further information was considered. The repercussions for those abused are innumerable. Victims struggle in their lives going forward, trying to recover from the defilement by a person shrouded in a sacred position of trust.
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