Vatican Paper Lauds Spotlight For Giving Voice to Abuse Victims

Spotlight tells the story of how Boston Globe uncovered a child molestation scandal in the city’s archdiocese.

Spotlight won the award for Best Picture at the Oscars. (Photo: Twitter)

The Vatican newspaper on Monday lauded the film “Spotlight”, which took home this year’s Oscar for best picture, for giving voice to the pain of the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy.

The film tells the story of how the Boston Globe uncovered a massive scandal of child molestation in the city’s archdiocese.

The Osservatore Romano said the film did not take a hostile position against the Church.

It gives “a voice to the shock and profound pain of the faithful who confront the discovery of this horrible reality”, said an opinion piece by columnist Lucetta Scaraffia.

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.

During his brief acceptance speech on Sunday, “Spotlight” producer Michael Sugar said he hoped the voices of the victims portrayed would “become a choir that would resonate all the way to the Vatican” and called on Pope Francis to protect children.