SPOTLIGHT
Shines On the Catholic Church
Story by Allison O’Donoghue
ABSOLUTE POWER
CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY
CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY
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| Wise man. |
When Joseph Ratzinger resigned his position in 2013, as Pope Benedict XVI - I smelled a rat.
The first pope in recent history not be bumped off or die in office! The first Pope to resign since 1415. Why? As the situation progressed, it became clear that Ratzinger, and the Vatican did not want to face questions percolating and bubbling up, all around the world about why they did absolutely nothing to protect children from paedophile priests, given that it was Ratzinger's primary job as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, prior to becoming pope. His job was to gather information (evidence) on paedophile priests, and investigate. Instead, he protected them by moving them from one parish to another as a way of minimising the damage, only to create more damage.
His resignation should not have protected him from interrogation, but he was, and still is sheltered within the Vatican walls. Which is actually a separate country from Italy, and therefore does not abide by local or international laws. He got away with it. And in his own words, upon his resignation he declared - "I will be hidden from the world for the rest of my life" - You might be physically hidden from the world Ratzinger, but your legacy lives on.
The Vatican now declare that Ratzinger has dementia, and therefore cannot be interviewed. He is still protected.
Australia's Cardinal George Pell, is also being protected by the Vatican from Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Child Abuse. He refuses to return to Australia to face the Royal Commission due to health concerns; a failing heart. However, he can fly short distances for a holiday in the South of France. A flight, is a flight. Long or short, it makes no difference.
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| No wonder he did nothing! |
Pope Francis continues to remain silent on the matter. He will not be able to remain silent for much longer. He, and his team of advisers had better come up with a plan. And soon.
Disclosure: I am a
lapsed catholic. I went to a catholic convent (in primary school) and was taught
by nuns, and some vicious nuns at that. I clearly remember as a young child
asking a simple question – “Who saw him rise from the dead?”- and with that Sister Phildelma
hauled me up to the front of the class, my skirt lifted, my knickers exposed, and I was given the cane (for
blasphemy) effectively silencing me, and the rest of the class. That seemingly small event planted the seeds of doubt and mistrust. I no longer believed every word she said.
When I think about it now, that was quite a sophisticated question for a six or seven year old to ask. But questions of that nature were not encouraged. You just had to believe them. You just had to take their word as gospel and develop faith.
The more I write about this story and update my blog, the more memories come flooding back. I had put this so far back in the recesses of my mind, I'd forgotten I'd even went to a catholic convent.
Another unwanted memory. I broke my leg, my classroom was on the first floor, so I had to hobble up the stairs on crutches. One day, Sister Phildelma became so impatient with me, she pushed me forward, and I fell flat on my face. She confiscated my crutches, so I had to walk on my cast. Everyday, I had to hobble up the stairs without my crutches. Predictably, my cast cracked and split, which got me into trouble with my parents and the doctor - who had to recast my cast. My protestations of -"but, but, but, Sister Phildelma, pushed me... but" - went unheard. She was so cruel.
My mother recently admitted that Sister Phildelma - "had it in for me". My mother confronted her on several occasions. She recalled telling Sister Phildelma, that I had gone from a happy, gregarious, funny and yes, loud little girl - to a sad, sullen, miserable little girl. Their lovely little Ally was gone, and the direct link was her - Sister Phildelma - who then informed my mother that I was, "willful, full of the devil, and needed discipline". And quite frankly, she was right. Not about the devil part, but definitely about the wilful part. I stood up to her. I'd answered back. I'd tell her off, for telling me off.
I realise now that I didn't do myself any favours, I would be punished, of course. She had various, and seemingly endless methods of punishment at her disposal. She couldn't cane me everyday, as that would certainly attract too much attention, and leave marks. But she did make me scrub the Rectory (the priests home) floors on my hands and knees, as often as she could. She'd come along to check my progress, kick the bucket over, then chastise me for spilling the dirty water. Evil women.
If anyone was full of the devil, it was Sister Phildelma.
I used to sit by the window, looking out longingly, every day, dreaming of life as a grown up. I never listened to a word Sister Phildelma said, unless, of course she asked me a question that I couldn't possibly answer, which she did, often. Then I was in trouble again. I literally didn't learn a thing. You just cannot absorb any information if all you're doing is warding off slings and arrows. I couldn't read or write properly. I was hopeless at math. I thought I was so dumb, because Sister Phildelma told me everyday how dumb I was, that in the end, I believed her.
One more story on Sister Phildelma, and then I'll quit. Promise.
Whenever we did work in our school books, grammar, math, whatever - we would have to take them up to her desk at the end of the day and put them in front of her. Every time, I would get stung, like I'd been bitten by a mosquito or something. So I worked out a way to just drop it in front of her to avoid whatever it was that was hurting me. I was a smart little girl - I was always trying to avoid any physical contact with her. This annoyed Sister Phildelma, so she'd tell me to pick it up and do it again, slowly. And I'd get stung again. It would bleed, and I'd be in tears. Mission accomplished. She'd send me home in tears, every single day.
Then one day, I noticed she had this sliver thing in her hand, so when she wasn't looking, I took it. While waiting for Mum to pick me up, I asked Sister Theresa, who truly was an angel, what it was. "That's a sewing pin dear. It's used to hold fabric in place. Where did you get it?" I told her I stole it from Sister Phildelma, and showed her my latest pin prick mark. Sister Theresa, cupped her hands around my face, and gave me this pained look, coupled with love and compassion. I'm pretty sure Sister Theresa had a little chat with Sister Phildelma that day, but it would have been to no avail, as Sister Phildelma was the head nun of the convent. Hierarchical system.
Confessional. We'd have to line up for confession once a week to confess our sins. I didn't quite understand the concept of sin, least of all original sin. I'd ask the kid in front of me what they were going to say, they'd say something like, 'stole my brothers pencil'. Is that a sin? I suppose it is if its in the 10 commandments. Anyway, we'd regularly make stuff up each week. In the end I'd confess to the same sin, "I threw my brother's football over the fence." Then one day, a priest said to me, "You said that last week. Do you throw your brother's football over the fence every week"? I sat stony silent. Too frightened to speak. Confession was always a terrifying experience at the best of times. Then he explained original sin and how Eve gave Adam an apple. He asked me why did Eve give Adam an apple? "Because Adam was hungry", I replied in all innocence. All I remember was the priest laughing so hard, he could barely get the, "Say five Hail Mary's and five Our fathers out." All I could think was the deep trouble I would be in with the dreaded Sister Phildelma, again!
The priest must have kept my wrong answer to himself, because Sister Phildelma never mentioned it.
It wasn't until years later, when I was older that I got the whole concept of original sin. Eve was sexually tempting Adam. Of course she was, the sexual temptress that she was.
This infuriated me. Catholics are always hostile towards women? Without procreation, there would be no congregation, no people to brainwash, no people to control, fleece of their money, violate or abuse. So it's just as well Eve offered Adam that apple. And he probably was hungry. Did Adam really need tempting? I doubt it. Anyway, it's just a fable. No truth to any of it.
Opposite the convent was the local public school. I'd watch them play, carefree and happy, and wished I could play with them.
I got my wish.
Fed up, my parents eventually took me out of the convent, and put me in a public primary school. Thankfully, not the one opposite the convent, but one closer to our house. Within a year, my father was promoted, which required us to move to the other side of the state, as far away from evil as we could get. And that's when my childhood/adolescent memories actually begin - from 12 years onwards. When my family discuss anything from my early childhood, I literally draw a blank. I can't remember a thing.
Until now.
When I think about it now, that was quite a sophisticated question for a six or seven year old to ask. But questions of that nature were not encouraged. You just had to believe them. You just had to take their word as gospel and develop faith.
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| My confirmation Day |
The more I write about this story and update my blog, the more memories come flooding back. I had put this so far back in the recesses of my mind, I'd forgotten I'd even went to a catholic convent.
Another unwanted memory. I broke my leg, my classroom was on the first floor, so I had to hobble up the stairs on crutches. One day, Sister Phildelma became so impatient with me, she pushed me forward, and I fell flat on my face. She confiscated my crutches, so I had to walk on my cast. Everyday, I had to hobble up the stairs without my crutches. Predictably, my cast cracked and split, which got me into trouble with my parents and the doctor - who had to recast my cast. My protestations of -"but, but, but, Sister Phildelma, pushed me... but" - went unheard. She was so cruel.
My mother recently admitted that Sister Phildelma - "had it in for me". My mother confronted her on several occasions. She recalled telling Sister Phildelma, that I had gone from a happy, gregarious, funny and yes, loud little girl - to a sad, sullen, miserable little girl. Their lovely little Ally was gone, and the direct link was her - Sister Phildelma - who then informed my mother that I was, "willful, full of the devil, and needed discipline". And quite frankly, she was right. Not about the devil part, but definitely about the wilful part. I stood up to her. I'd answered back. I'd tell her off, for telling me off.
I realise now that I didn't do myself any favours, I would be punished, of course. She had various, and seemingly endless methods of punishment at her disposal. She couldn't cane me everyday, as that would certainly attract too much attention, and leave marks. But she did make me scrub the Rectory (the priests home) floors on my hands and knees, as often as she could. She'd come along to check my progress, kick the bucket over, then chastise me for spilling the dirty water. Evil women.
If anyone was full of the devil, it was Sister Phildelma.
I used to sit by the window, looking out longingly, every day, dreaming of life as a grown up. I never listened to a word Sister Phildelma said, unless, of course she asked me a question that I couldn't possibly answer, which she did, often. Then I was in trouble again. I literally didn't learn a thing. You just cannot absorb any information if all you're doing is warding off slings and arrows. I couldn't read or write properly. I was hopeless at math. I thought I was so dumb, because Sister Phildelma told me everyday how dumb I was, that in the end, I believed her.
One more story on Sister Phildelma, and then I'll quit. Promise.
Whenever we did work in our school books, grammar, math, whatever - we would have to take them up to her desk at the end of the day and put them in front of her. Every time, I would get stung, like I'd been bitten by a mosquito or something. So I worked out a way to just drop it in front of her to avoid whatever it was that was hurting me. I was a smart little girl - I was always trying to avoid any physical contact with her. This annoyed Sister Phildelma, so she'd tell me to pick it up and do it again, slowly. And I'd get stung again. It would bleed, and I'd be in tears. Mission accomplished. She'd send me home in tears, every single day.
Then one day, I noticed she had this sliver thing in her hand, so when she wasn't looking, I took it. While waiting for Mum to pick me up, I asked Sister Theresa, who truly was an angel, what it was. "That's a sewing pin dear. It's used to hold fabric in place. Where did you get it?" I told her I stole it from Sister Phildelma, and showed her my latest pin prick mark. Sister Theresa, cupped her hands around my face, and gave me this pained look, coupled with love and compassion. I'm pretty sure Sister Theresa had a little chat with Sister Phildelma that day, but it would have been to no avail, as Sister Phildelma was the head nun of the convent. Hierarchical system.
Confessional. We'd have to line up for confession once a week to confess our sins. I didn't quite understand the concept of sin, least of all original sin. I'd ask the kid in front of me what they were going to say, they'd say something like, 'stole my brothers pencil'. Is that a sin? I suppose it is if its in the 10 commandments. Anyway, we'd regularly make stuff up each week. In the end I'd confess to the same sin, "I threw my brother's football over the fence." Then one day, a priest said to me, "You said that last week. Do you throw your brother's football over the fence every week"? I sat stony silent. Too frightened to speak. Confession was always a terrifying experience at the best of times. Then he explained original sin and how Eve gave Adam an apple. He asked me why did Eve give Adam an apple? "Because Adam was hungry", I replied in all innocence. All I remember was the priest laughing so hard, he could barely get the, "Say five Hail Mary's and five Our fathers out." All I could think was the deep trouble I would be in with the dreaded Sister Phildelma, again!
The priest must have kept my wrong answer to himself, because Sister Phildelma never mentioned it.
It wasn't until years later, when I was older that I got the whole concept of original sin. Eve was sexually tempting Adam. Of course she was, the sexual temptress that she was.
This infuriated me. Catholics are always hostile towards women? Without procreation, there would be no congregation, no people to brainwash, no people to control, fleece of their money, violate or abuse. So it's just as well Eve offered Adam that apple. And he probably was hungry. Did Adam really need tempting? I doubt it. Anyway, it's just a fable. No truth to any of it.
Opposite the convent was the local public school. I'd watch them play, carefree and happy, and wished I could play with them.
I got my wish.
Fed up, my parents eventually took me out of the convent, and put me in a public primary school. Thankfully, not the one opposite the convent, but one closer to our house. Within a year, my father was promoted, which required us to move to the other side of the state, as far away from evil as we could get. And that's when my childhood/adolescent memories actually begin - from 12 years onwards. When my family discuss anything from my early childhood, I literally draw a blank. I can't remember a thing.
Until now.
Not once did I hear
about the love of god. Not once. But I heard plenty about sin, and the wrath of
god, and how we’d either go to hell or be parked in purgatory until we had
atoned for our sins. What sins? I was a child. I intuitively knew something was wrong with this picture,
but because I was treated harshly by Sister Phildelma, I never,
ever spoke up again. But I never, ever trusted the nuns or priests again.
Instead, I developed a rebellious streak, that is still with me today. I now ask myself, Does injustice find me, or do I find injustice? No matter where I go, it's always lurking. Always something to deal with or someone to defend. I've tried the see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil trick that people manage to do everyday, but I can't sustain it for very long. In the end, remaining silent ultimately hurts me. It does me more damage, knowing I should have spoken up when I had the chance, and didn't. I became a nurse to help people, but the industry is plagued with endless issues to deal with on a daily basis, and its exhausting. I am a patient advocate, which poses a whole heap of problems for the healthcare industry. But that's a whole other story.
Another thing we had to do as a class and school, was attend mass. Yeah, well, it was a catholic convent, I hear you say. But alas, it wasn't any old ordinary mass, which was painful enough, it was the dreaded Requiem Mass - The Mass of the Dead. If a person had died and requested a Requiem Mass, we had to attend. Priests love showing off, and a Requiem Mass will certainly give them the opportunity to pontificate for hours. Sometimes they lasted 3 to 4 hours, and sometimes it was one a week. Sometimes kids would pee their pants, because we weren't allowed to move until the mass was over. Pure and utter torture!
However, my experience was nothing compared to the 1000’s of children who were sexually abused by paedophile priests and brothers. And like Pope Benedict XVI, priests and brothers, the nuns have seemingly gotten away with it too.
Instead, I developed a rebellious streak, that is still with me today. I now ask myself, Does injustice find me, or do I find injustice? No matter where I go, it's always lurking. Always something to deal with or someone to defend. I've tried the see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil trick that people manage to do everyday, but I can't sustain it for very long. In the end, remaining silent ultimately hurts me. It does me more damage, knowing I should have spoken up when I had the chance, and didn't. I became a nurse to help people, but the industry is plagued with endless issues to deal with on a daily basis, and its exhausting. I am a patient advocate, which poses a whole heap of problems for the healthcare industry. But that's a whole other story.
Another thing we had to do as a class and school, was attend mass. Yeah, well, it was a catholic convent, I hear you say. But alas, it wasn't any old ordinary mass, which was painful enough, it was the dreaded Requiem Mass - The Mass of the Dead. If a person had died and requested a Requiem Mass, we had to attend. Priests love showing off, and a Requiem Mass will certainly give them the opportunity to pontificate for hours. Sometimes they lasted 3 to 4 hours, and sometimes it was one a week. Sometimes kids would pee their pants, because we weren't allowed to move until the mass was over. Pure and utter torture!
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| Black vestments used in Requiem Mass |
However, my experience was nothing compared to the 1000’s of children who were sexually abused by paedophile priests and brothers. And like Pope Benedict XVI, priests and brothers, the nuns have seemingly gotten away with it too.
Clearly, I have no respect for the catholic church - hence the small c. I’m surprised that they are still a powerful institution, given what we now know about just how toxic this institution truly is. The scope of their world wide crimes is staggering, and demonstrates just how absolute power - corrupts absolutely. And also demonstrates just how clever their brainwashing techniques truly are.
Joanne McCarthy, of The Newcastle Herald, lifted the lid on
paedophile priests in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley area, and went on to
expose the catholic church for protecting paedophile priests by moving them
from parish to parish. She exposed a systematic cover up with the complicity of
the church, the police, judges, local law officials, and the media, in keeping the
story under wraps, ensuring the ugly truth of over 400 victims never saw light
of day. The church vilified McCarthy and spread rumours that she was, “mad
and obsessed”. The catholic church did everything they could to silence her, and stop The Newcastle Herald from pursuing the
church on behalf of the victims.
To tackle a subject
this big you need a strong editor, and that was Chad Watson. Along with McCarthy, they took the brunt of endless denials, threats and blocks, but they continued to give a
voice to the voiceless. Incredibly brave.
In the wake of their investigation, a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was set up by the then PM Julia Gillard in 2013 and continues to this day – so prevalent is the problem.
Julia Gillard was very clever in wording the commission, Institutional Responses in the terms of reference, as this opened the door to investigate all institutions relating to children, and the care of children. As well as agencies responsible to protect children.
Joanne McCarthy went on to win the 2013 Gold Walkley award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, and rightly so. During her acceptance speech, she said she never wanted to be a journalist, but was encouraged to apply for a job advertisement by her then husband. Thank god she did. Who knows, maybe god put her there to bring the story to light? He apparently works in mysterious ways!
The Royal Commission is still ongoing, and have investigated the Anglican church, who also employed the same tactics as the catholic church to cover up a paedophile ring operating within the church. They are also grilling Archbishops from all Sates in Australia, and driving home the message that paedophilia is a crime and not something to be dismissed as an anomaly. And as of today the 6th of March 2017 - the Commission is currently interviewing agencies set up to protect children.
Update 2nd March 2017: Christian Brother, Robert Best has been jailed for a further 10 years and 5 months for sexually abusing 31 boys from 1968 to 1988. In keeping with the Vatican's systematic cover up routine, he was moved from one parish to another only to cause more pain, shame and grief to more boys. He will not be eligible for release until 2027. The judge said - he will probably die in jail.
For all information in regards to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse go to these links:
http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-study/261be84b-bec0-4440-b294-57d3e7de1234/case-study-50,-february-2017,-Sydney
Australia's oldest Catholic boys' boarding school to formally apologise to sex abuse victims. Full story click on the link:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-20/bathurst-catholic-school-to-formally-apologise-over-sexual-abuse/8197290
Hillsong founder, Brian Houston declares his church 'as safe as it can possibly be' at the Royal Commission. Although, he failed to declare his father was convicted of paedophilia, until forced by the media when the story broke. Further details, click on the link below.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hillsong-founder-brian-houston-declares-his-church-as-safe-as-it-can-possibly-be-at-royal-commission-20170323-gv5dp8.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/nuns-abused-hundreds-of-children-1171988.html
Researcher Catherine Corless, discovered a home for unwed mothers in Tuam, County Galway, run by the Bon Secours Sisters, operating from 1926 to 1961. They systematically covered up the unexplained deaths of 796 children. Their bodies were unceremoniously thrown into a disused septic tank. For the full story from The Guardian please click on the link below.
A new in depth article written by Tanya Gold, of The Guardian is calling for the scope of the inquiry to widen, and to put pressure on the Irish PM Enda Kenny to acknowledge the horrific history has been hidden for too long. Mother's repeatedly turned away from the home, begging to get their children back. At last the cruelty of nuns is starting to gain traction. They cannot get away with it either.
Read full article below.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/09/survivors-ireland-mother-baby-scandal-justice-tuam
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/04/claim-of-800-childrens-bodies-buried-at-irish-home-for-unwed-mothers
In the wake of their investigation, a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was set up by the then PM Julia Gillard in 2013 and continues to this day – so prevalent is the problem.
Julia Gillard was very clever in wording the commission, Institutional Responses in the terms of reference, as this opened the door to investigate all institutions relating to children, and the care of children. As well as agencies responsible to protect children.
Joanne McCarthy went on to win the 2013 Gold Walkley award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, and rightly so. During her acceptance speech, she said she never wanted to be a journalist, but was encouraged to apply for a job advertisement by her then husband. Thank god she did. Who knows, maybe god put her there to bring the story to light? He apparently works in mysterious ways!
The Royal Commission is still ongoing, and have investigated the Anglican church, who also employed the same tactics as the catholic church to cover up a paedophile ring operating within the church. They are also grilling Archbishops from all Sates in Australia, and driving home the message that paedophilia is a crime and not something to be dismissed as an anomaly. And as of today the 6th of March 2017 - the Commission is currently interviewing agencies set up to protect children.
Update 2nd March 2017: Christian Brother, Robert Best has been jailed for a further 10 years and 5 months for sexually abusing 31 boys from 1968 to 1988. In keeping with the Vatican's systematic cover up routine, he was moved from one parish to another only to cause more pain, shame and grief to more boys. He will not be eligible for release until 2027. The judge said - he will probably die in jail.
Jesus wept, and, wept, and wept!
George Pell
The Department of Public Prosecutions is deciding whether to lay historical charges against George Pell. There is no way he can continue to plead ignorance on child sexual abuse by priests. He lived with Gerald Ridsdale for years, who thus far has been charged with sexually abusing over 1000 children in his care. Charge Pell. Bring him back to Australia to face his victims. Click the link for latest information:
For all information in regards to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse go to these links:
http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-study/261be84b-bec0-4440-b294-57d3e7de1234/case-study-50,-february-2017,-Sydney
Now Britain (not before time) has finally begun investigating Child Sexual Abuse of Children who immigrated from England to Australia post war. Former ABC director, David Hill was one of the first to give evidence, and it breaks your heart to hear him speak. May the spotlight continue to shine on the catholic church, and all the institutions who failed to protect children.Australia's oldest Catholic boys' boarding school to formally apologise to sex abuse victims. Full story click on the link:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-20/bathurst-catholic-school-to-formally-apologise-over-sexual-abuse/8197290
Hillsong founder, Brian Houston declares his church 'as safe as it can possibly be' at the Royal Commission. Although, he failed to declare his father was convicted of paedophilia, until forced by the media when the story broke. Further details, click on the link below.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hillsong-founder-brian-houston-declares-his-church-as-safe-as-it-can-possibly-be-at-royal-commission-20170323-gv5dp8.html
Vicious Nuns
More stories have come to light of abusive nuns. See I wasn't making it up. Poor Sisters of Narzareth who operated many homes and supposedly cared for Britain's orphans, abandoned babies and children deemed uncontrollable or accused of petty crimes. Hundreds of people, who suffered at the hands of the nuns are now sharing their stories. For full story click on the link below:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/nuns-abused-hundreds-of-children-1171988.html
Ireland
Researcher Catherine Corless, discovered a home for unwed mothers in Tuam, County Galway, run by the Bon Secours Sisters, operating from 1926 to 1961. They systematically covered up the unexplained deaths of 796 children. Their bodies were unceremoniously thrown into a disused septic tank. For the full story from The Guardian please click on the link below.
A new in depth article written by Tanya Gold, of The Guardian is calling for the scope of the inquiry to widen, and to put pressure on the Irish PM Enda Kenny to acknowledge the horrific history has been hidden for too long. Mother's repeatedly turned away from the home, begging to get their children back. At last the cruelty of nuns is starting to gain traction. They cannot get away with it either.
Read full article below.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/09/survivors-ireland-mother-baby-scandal-justice-tuam
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/04/claim-of-800-childrens-bodies-buried-at-irish-home-for-unwed-mothers
Film Review
SPOTLIGHT
2016 Academy Award Winner
Best Picture/Best Original
Screenplay
In Boston, it took a team of journalists working within The Boston Globe to investigate the powerful catholic church, and that team was Spotlight.
Established in 1970, Spotlight has developed a reputation for
taking on the big stories that require long gestation periods, to get all the
facts, to research every thread, to ensure they follow every possible angle. They
operate in secret, deep within the bowels of The
Boston Globe away from prying ears and eyes. They don’t discuss what
they’re working on with anyone unrelated to Spotlight
to ward off mindless gossipy leaks and ensure rival papers don’t get wind of it.
When newly appointed Editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) - an outsider and Jew, takes the helm of The Boston Globe, he see’s a column
buried deep within the Metro section of the paper about a possible pattern of
moving suspicious priests from one parish to another - he asks why the Globe hadn’t taken up the story? He’s
greeted with stony silence, then excuses, “Boston is a big catholic town, and
so are our readers, they wont like it,” etc. Undeterred, he puts Spotlight on the job and slowly but
surely they piece together the untold story. Baron wisely directs the team to
not go after individual paedophile priests but to go after the system. A smart move - by going
after individual priests the Vatican could right them off as one bad apple, but
by going after the institution they could prove the catholic hierarchy was complicit in setting up the pattern of moving
pedophile priests from one parish to another, knowing full they had a huge problem and did nothing about it!
Director Tom McCarthy
(The Station Agent, Win Win) has done
a great job with a very difficult subject. Primarily, he highlighted the
importance of the dying art of investigative journalism and the courage of The Boston Globe to take on the catholic
church. They ran the risk of alienating their predominately catholic readership,
but it was a risk they were prepared to take. Some resistance came from within
when senior editor Ben Bradlee Jr (John Slattery) initially didn’t want to
pursue the matter based on past experience and the wall of silence he knew the
team would encounter. However, as the team progressed he softened his stance.
Mark Ruffalo plays
energetic, gun hoe journalist Mike Rezendes who doggedly pursues any lead he
can to expose the truth. The more he learns, the more he despairs. He goes
after lawyer Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) who represents the victims/survivors,
and is naturally reluctant to discuss anything on the record. He’s been through
this time and time again, and knows all the tricks the catholic church play to conceal the
truth and hide evidence, so he doesn’t have a lot of faith in Rezendes.
Frustrated with the lack of cooperation, Rezendes blurts out that he’s working for Spotlight, which does the trick and Garabedian starts to open up. He allows Rezendes to interview the victims and directs him to the court records, but the records are sealed, and without them they don’t have the proof they need to nail the church. Undeterred, Baron continues to support the team and urges them to keep going. With the publisher’s approval, Baron sue's the church to get the court records released.
Frustrated with the lack of cooperation, Rezendes blurts out that he’s working for Spotlight, which does the trick and Garabedian starts to open up. He allows Rezendes to interview the victims and directs him to the court records, but the records are sealed, and without them they don’t have the proof they need to nail the church. Undeterred, Baron continues to support the team and urges them to keep going. With the publisher’s approval, Baron sue's the church to get the court records released.
Spotlight team leader, Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (Michael Keaton) is in a conflict
of interest quandary, he socialises with the very people he’s investigating, and
has hidden abuse stories in the Metro section in the past, buying into the lie that it was one bad apple. One of his high
school buddies is a defence lawyer for the church and Robby’s incessant digging
threatens to damage their friendship. But when he starts to see the way in which the church operates, he asks himself a fundamental
question – Am I guilty too? He knows he can’t turn a blind eye any longer.
Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel
McAdams), is the sole female reporter on the team who is assigned to interview
the victims, and she does with compassion and kindness. She gets them to open
up, and they tell her harrowing stories they hadn’t even told their own
families. Like Rezendes, the more she digs, the more she despairs.
The cast members met
the real Spotlight team who worked on
the story, which helped them accurately portray their characters, and it
paid off. Spotlight deservedly won
the Best Picture Oscar over The Revenant, which was tipped to win. As an
ensemble piece it is akin to possibly the only other journalistic procedural
film to rival this one - All the
President’s Men with Robert Redford (Bob Woodward) and Dustin Hoffman (Carl Bernstein). Together they exposed the Nixon/Watergate scandal. That was a big story, and could have killed off The Washington Post, instead it exposed
Nixon for the liar he was, and rampant corruption in politics.
Similarly, exposing
the catholic church could have killed off The
Boston Globe, already struggling with the transition to digital, but
instead, they went on to win a Pulitzer Price for Outstanding Investigative
Journalism. And the floodgates opened.
In the end, over 250
priests and brothers were implicated of child sexual abuse in the Boston area
alone, which is a relatively small city of about 650,000 people so the degrees of separation are very close. Somebody knows somebody who has been abused. And anyone who tried to speak out was shunned, vilified or discredited, if they lived long enough. At the end of
the film, a complete list of the countries affected by child sexual abuse goes
on and on. And it is staggering! How the catholic church has any credibility is a complete mystery and beyond belief.
Spotlight is a brave film. The real journalists of Spotlight were courageous but more importantly the Editor Marty
Baron, portrayed brilliantly by Schreiber, had the courage to rise above all the
threats and denials to do what newspapers are meant do – report the facts and inform
the community of matters of public interest.
You cannot have a
democracy without freedom of speech. Albeit, the truth can be suppressed,
hidden or locked away for decades, but like a blade of grass seeking the light
through concrete, it eventually finds a way. My hope is that Spotlight inspires editors and
publishers to pluck up the courage to tackle contentious and difficult subject
matters, regardless of who buys advertising or whom it may offend.
Brilliant film. A must see.
Brilliant film. A must see.
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| Roman Emperor - Marcus Aurelius. |
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| President James Garfield |
2 comments:
Brilliant!
Thank you Sonia!
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