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[Oersted]

In a front page editorial on Monday, Vatican-owned newspaper Osservatore Romano praised Tom McCarthy’s Oscar-winning Spotlight for its depiction of the Catholic Church’s cover-up of sex abuse crimes.

As reported by Reuters UK, columnist Lucetta Scaraffia said that the film gave, “a voice to the shock and profound pain of the faithful who confront the discovery of this horrible reality.” She added that, “It’s by now clear that in the Church too many were worried about the image of the institution and not the gravity of the act.”

The film chronicles the true story of the Boston Globe’s investigative journalism team Spotlight, which uncovered hundreds of American priests who had been moved to different parishes, instead of being defrocked, after molesting children.

Since the Globe’s initial investigation in 2002, thousands more priest sex abuse cases have been uncovered all over the world.

More here

http://m.screendaily.com/5100990.article

Lock if old

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Everyone needs to watch this film. Makes journalism seem like the most noble profession.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Everyone needs to watch this film. Makes journalism seem like the most noble profession.

Yep.

 

[Volimar]

Good for them. Ruffalo was terrific in it.

 

[H.Cornerstone]

Pope Francis continues to be the best pope.

 

[Cohsae]

At least the church is now acknowledging the problem but I won't be forgiving and forgetting anytime soon.
They need to show that they are really being proactive and removing offenders and the culture of silence that protected them.
It seems the church is still in the mode of waiting for a scandal to break and then apologizing afterwards, as opposed to bringing offenders to light themselves.
There's no way all of them have been caught, which means there are still plenty of people in the church who are protecting them.

 

[Sickboy007]

That piece of shit Law is still holed up in the Vatican though.

 

[BeauRoger]

Well, with the evidance stacked against them, they can do nothing but try to appear remorseful and introspective.

 

[Aureon]

If you haven't kept up with it, Francis absolutely doesn't fuck around on the topic.

 

[braves01]

Awesome. It's great Francis doesn't fuck around about this and hopefully is helping change the culture that allowed it to become an issue.

 

[shira]

That piece of shit Law is still holed up in the Vatican though.

Why the fuck are they still protecting him. He must know corruption that goes all the way to the Pope or upper inner circle if they aren't giving him up.

 

[Merriweather]

Everyone needs to watch this film. Makes journalism seem like the most noble profession.

I liked the movie a lot. But as someone who works at a newspaper, God no. Our writers are so eager to drag people down and so stupid in the way they go about doing that. Noble? Not in a million years, but that's just my jaded personal experience.

 

[samn]

Well, with the evidance stacked against them, they can do nothing but try to appear remorseful and introspective.

Not enough remorse.

This new article from the Vatican still peddles the lie that the last Pope cared about anything other than continuing the cover-up.

 

[Air]

Still have to watch it. Glad Francis isn't about the nonsense. Glad this paper is raving about the movie. That so many people were abused and this brushed under the rug is appalling.

 

[BeauRoger]

Awesome. It's great Francis doesn't fuck around about this and hopefully is helping change the culture that allowed it to become an issue.

If you haven't kept up with it, Francis absolutely doesn't fuck around on the topic.

Pope Francis continues to be the best pope.

Im sorry guys, but this is simply not true. Its the narrative the vatican spins but those words are vaccuous and have very little value. I am sorry to see that people actually believe these PR tricks.

The vatican under Francis have taken the stance that they will not be disclosing crimes of this nature to the police in Italy for example. Law is still holed up in the vatican. UN has made similar requests for them to abolish that kind of secret keeping, which has been rejected. This "zero-tolerance stance" they keep repeating is mostly the same as what Pope Benedict preached, but he himself was aware and helping priests and bishops avoid justice. Its all mostly lip service. In the end, the church and the vatican will not give up any more than they feel that they have to and they speak only about this because its at the forefront of peoples minds right now. They are simply doing damage control.

 

[BlastProcessing]

Pope Francis continues to be the best pope.

Not really. This shit is still happening right now.

The Pope has not come out with any real plan on how to even begin to acknowledge the extent of the problem let alone a clear set of guidelines to deal with it. Cardinal Law has an honored position in the Vatican to this day and has in no way faced any accountability. He gets to live out the rest of his life as a revered prince of the Church under Pope Francis' protection.

The most the Pope has said is that what happened was bad, cool we all agree it was bad, but how about talking about how you are going to change the power structures of an organization that actively fostered these acts?

The only substantive thing that has changed since the Boston story broke is that these rapists are being transferred to countries in South America instead of being shuffled around the US.

Not impressed. This Pope is a shiny PR face on an organization that is still being ruled by institutional inertia. Nothing has changed.

 

[Parch]

Spotlight wins best picture and the vatican probably cringed. Since it did win they probably feel obligated to make some sort of PR statement about it. I'm sure they wished it didn't win so it could just go away asap.

It's the volume of crimes and extent and length of the cover up that is really disturbing.
If this happened in a big corporation, that corporation would probably no longer exist.

 

[TheOctodad]

The Pope and the leadership of the Catholic Church needs more pressure to step up for some of these injustices.

That said, changing and addressing systematic and institutional issues is not easy. I'm sure there are MANY Catholic clergy who are for a movie like Spotlight and want to see it addressed as well.

 

[World SkiFree]

Although not an official endorsement by the Vatican (as stated in the linked article below), Vatican Radio praised the movie upon release.

http://www.cruxnow.com/life/2015/10...vie-on-boston-globe-coverage-of-clergy-abuse/

 

[Dicktatorship]

A lot of people in this thread fail to realize the Church is what benefits the most from getting rid of corruption. Francis and Benedict have been trying, but there really isn't that much they can do when it's being orchestrated on the ground level.

EDIT: Pope Pius VII, while a prisoner of Napoleon, said this to the very angry emperor who threatened to destroy the Church.

"If in 1,800 years we clergy have failed to destroy the Church, do you really think that you'll be able to do it?"

 

[BlastProcessing]

A lot of people in this thread fail to realize the Church is what benefits the most from getting rid of corruption. Francis and Benedict have been trying, but there really isn't that much they can do when it's being orchestrated on the ground level.

EDIT: Pope Pius VII, while a prisoner of Napoleon, said this to the very angry emperor who threatened to destroy the Church.

Could you point out any actual, concrete steps either has taken? It's all lose statements and general guidelines at best. If either wanted substantive movement on the issue they wouldn't continue to reward Cardinal Law for his involvement.

 

[Dicktatorship]

Could you point out any actual, concrete steps either has taken? It's all lose statements and general guidelines at best. If either wanted substantive movement on the issue they wouldn't continue to reward Cardinal Law for his involvement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontifical_Commission_for_the_Protection_of_Minors

 

[BlastProcessing]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontifical_Commission_for_the_Protection_of_Minors

Yeah, that commission has no teeth, has moved agonizingly slowly and has made no comprehensive policies. It's main reason for existence seems to be to keep the investigation inhouse when it obviously needs to be 100% independant.

The Wiki page also calls out the fact that Francis appointed Juan Barros to lead a diocese. Pope Francis has promoted more people involved in the abuse scandal than he has punished. It's insane.

 

[Dicktatorship]

Yeah, that commission has no teeth, has moved agonizingly slowly and has made no comprehensive policies. It's main reason for existence seems to be to keep the investigation inhouse when it obviously needs to be 100% independant.

The Wiki page also calls out the fact that Francis appointed Juan Barros to lead a diocese. Pope Francis has promoted more people involved in the abuse scandal than he has punished. It's insane.

What policies can be made other than the current one which is 'Don't rape' and 'report any rape'?

 

[BlastProcessing]

What policies can be made other than the current one which is 'Don't rape' and 'report any rape'?

There could be: active 3rd party auditing, 3rd party oversight on Priest movement, a set punishment scheme, a detailed list of inappropriate conduct, a detailed statement on the culpability of anyone who helps hide the scandal, an active policy on how local law enforcement should be involved, and accountability for people like Cardinal Law for a start.

'Don't Rape' and 'report any rape' are obviously not cutting it. The problem is institutional, the solution will necessarily include significant institutional change.

The fact that there is an ongoing scandal going on in Minnesota and that it only became public because a Church lawyer became a whistleblower when she realized that retired Priests who raped children where not only collecting their Church pension, but actually getting extra funds is incredibly damning.