"Spotlight is the gripping story of how The Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team uncovered the most massive cover ups in recent history, the Massachusetts Catholic sex abuse scandal." link
Spotlight, which recently won best picture at the Critics' Choice Awards and has been nominated for Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards, is being released on Blue-ray and DVD tomorrow! Dee, her husband, and I went to see the movie shortly after it hit theaters, and we cannot recommend it highly enough. In fact, I plan to go out and buy it tomorrow.
For those of you who may not be familiar with this important documentary, here is an overview:
After we saw the movie, Dee wrote a post entitled Spotlight: Systemic Abuse Is Now Being Exposed in Evangelical Cliques and Denominations. Here is an important excerpt from that post:
Systemic abuse in the Catholic church exposed by media
At first, the Spotlight team was focused on proving that the Archdiocese of Boston was protecting a few specific pedophiles, one of whom was Father Birmingham, the priest I knew well during my childhood. However, the new editor of the Boston Globe told them he wanted more. It was not enough to to nab a couple of priests since the system would still continue to protect others. He wanted the protective system to be unmasked.
This was a bold move on the editor's part. The Boston Globe was known for its close, collegial partnership with the Archdiocese of Boston. The Globe had exposed a couple of priest pedophiles but had done so discretely, burying the stories within the metropolitan section of the paper. The paper had apparently been given documentation by a few local individuals who had been molested, one of whom was the local SNAP representative. (Yay SNAP!!) However, the documented abuse was studiously ignored, even by the Spotlight team. (I plan to write about that on Wednesday.)
Some of the incidents were reported to the Archdiocese by victims and even some priests. These were apparently handled out of court, involving monetary payoffs to the victims and their families. Those victims had to sign a confidentiality agreement. According to the movie, these acts alone involved @20 priests!
So, the reporters began to dig and they found over 100 priests that had been involved in molestations in the Boston area alone! These priests were moved from parish to parish. Some were sent away for some form of counseling, reportedly ineffective, but were then allowed back into the system. Most of this was overseen by Cardinal Law. Read what happened to him as the scandal continued to grow.
Law resigned as Archbishop of Boston on December 13, 2002, allegedly in response to the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal after church documents were revealed which suggested he had covered up sexual abuse committed by some Catholic priests within his archdiocese.
Pope John Paul II appointed Law as Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome in 2004; he resigned from this position upon reaching the age of 80 in November 2011.
Law was accused of protecting the pedophile priests.Then it appears that Law was protected by none other than the Pope himself, who granted Law a position (and some might say asylum) within the Vatican. As you may know, the Vatican is its own independent state and can refuse to extradite priests for trial.
Finally, the Globe broke its longstanding ties to the Archdiocese and published its reports. This encouraged victims who had been silent to speak out, eventually exposing over 200 priest.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Thursday released a long-awaited list of priests accused of child sex abuse in Boston in the last 60 years, but he opted not to include certain priests, including ones who died without being publicly charged.
In a letter, O’Malley said 248 of Boston’s priests and two deacons have been accused of child sex abuse since 1950. But he said he decided against releasing 91 of the names, including the deceased priests who weren’t publicly accused; those working in Boston under religious orders or other dioceses; and priests named in unsubstantiated accusations that never went public.
Todd Wilhelm recently wrote a post calling attention to the upcoming release of Spotlight. Here is a important paragraph in that post.
We Protestants are living through our own version of “Spotlight". In the last few weeks, TIME and the Washingtonian have published stories detailing the sexual abuse scandal in the Sovereign Grace Churches denomination. A few men have been convicted of crimes and there are several more men that should face criminal charges for their participation in the sexual abuse scandal and resulting conspiracy to cover-up the abuse. Not unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the “priests” of the Neo-Calvinist wing of American Evangelicalism have largely remained silent, and some continue to participate in conferences with C.J. Mahaney, the former “Pope” if you will, of the Sovereign Grace denomination.
Todd also featured the story of a man named Danny Murphy who lived through the era on which the documentary was based. Danny reached out to Todd with his story, and Todd asked for permission to re-publish it. It is entitled Spotlight – Inside The Locker Room: The story of a priest, a boy, and a soccer ball, and you can access it here.
Incredibly, there seems to be an unprecedented number of individuals coming forward to report abuse by well-known individuals in both the religious and secular worlds. Bill Gothard and Bill Cosby immediately come to mind…
We have to wonder whether the movie Spotlight is inspiring those who have been hurt in some way to (finally) speak out. Although I have never been enamored with Hollywood, I have to express my tremendous gratitude to those who brought Spotlight to the big screen. No doubt it was a collaborative effort, and I am praying that the movie will receive the Oscar for Best Picture this weekend. Spotlight and the journalists the movie depicts are highly deserving of such accolades. It's way past time to shine the spotlight on child sexual abuse. How ironic that it is Hollywood which is bringing it to the forefront.
First?
@ Elizabeth Lee:
Congrats! You're on the ball…
I'm *really* looking forward to rushing out to get this soon as I can. I was scrounging around the "Entertainment Memorabilia" items on eBay a while back, trying to find what had been produced to go with Spotlight, and found the Oscar nomination "For Your Consideration" pressbook. Those often have intriguing bits of production information and reviews in them. Here's a quote from the Carl M. Cannon at Real Clear Politics.
When I read it, I thought about TWW and the many other survivor blogs, and what you/they are doing to raise the level of ethics and responsibility-taking in the Church. The role that "citizen journalism" has played in bringing light into our own dark corners this past decade has been crucial in bringing freedom to many. Thanks again for all you do here, Deb and Dee and Guy Behind the Curtain …
@ brad/futuristguy:
Thanks for your kind words Brad. You are a blessing to us here at TWW.
I know this is stating the obvious, but if you have that many priests from one area, then you’ve got a problem in the culture of the organization, a problem that seems to go beyond the local area throughout the organization and straight to the top. The truth won’t come out anytime soon, but I think ultimately it will. In the meantime, we Christians, Catholic and Protestant, can bring to light and discuss the problems of the entitlement mentality of those with power and the willingness to form conspiracies to protect those in power.
So, “Spotlight ” is being released. I’m being a little snarky here, but as a member of an SBC affiliated church, I wonder ………
All of the Baptist churches in our area did “movie nights” and showed “Facing the Giants”, “Fireproof”, “Courageous”, and “War Room”. Are they going to show “Spotlight”, too??? Ha! I doubt it.
Our church did “Courageous” on…….wait for it …….Valentine’s Day!
I understand that back in the early 1990s a victim of a pedophile priest or priests in the Washington, DC area, before the Catholic pedophile priest scandal was an issue in many dioceses, determined what street corner in Washington, DC had the most journalists driving past it each day on their morning and afternoon drives. He then stood out there with a sign at those times of day, saying something to the effect that "I was molested by a priest, please stop and ask me more." He had no takers and eventually stopped after a year or two.
Later a journalist told of how ignoring that victim and his sign cost him the biggest story of his career. He said that after that he'd never ignore a story that sounded crazy, no matter what, without checking it out first.
Well, maybe he changed, but I'm still amazed at how much info of sex abuse by clergy and church officials is uncovered by bloggers and more obscure media outlets, not major networks and papers.
Nancy2, that is a fantastic idea. I will plan a movie night for my small group and show Spotlight. I recommended it to numerous friends after Mr. Tree and I saw it, but I don’t think anyone took the bait. If I turn it into a chili supper and movie night, that’s sure to pack the house. Thanks!
for the sake of the innocents, God Bless those who take risks to expose those who take advantage of them. I am Catholic and I know that within the Church, we are hurt to see what has happened that went unchecked for so long, but I also know that bringing perpetrators out into the light will protect the innocent, and in time the perpetrators may themselves be held accountable legally and may be able also to find it in themselves to understand what great harm they have done and seek God's forgiveness . . .
Pride is at the root of this 'secrecy' where people want to hide that wrong-doing has happened, and shield perpetrators from exposure . . . problem is, the only thing these proud people don't think about is the suffering of the victims, and, God forbid, if the powers that be inflict further suffering on victims after learning of the crimes against them, then these higher-ups must also be held accountable legally. The Church can only thrive in the light. And the beginning of healing comes only with humility before the Lord. We in the Church are sinners upon whom God has looked. Sometimes we forget this.
It’s been out here in the UK for a little while and I can definitely say it’s more than worth a watch.
There are more than a few scenes which left me slack-jawed (and I know, in part through you here at TWW, a fair bit of what goes on).
And the whole audience was silent as it ended – but in the way that suggested that if one person had started to clap, so would everyone else.
Ninth comment… eighth commenter… đ
OK; I should probably read the post the noo. (ed.)
My wife and I also saw “Spotlight” during its theatrical release. I believe I stated this in my comment on the original post, but I think the point bears repeating. In the movie, the power of the Church is always referenced by all the parties involved – “The Church won’t allow this… The Cardinal will take action… they’re too powerful.” But apart from a few symbolic actions, the Church itself – Cardinal Law and the priests – do very little. It is the parishioners – the politicians, the police, the relatives of both the priests and the victims – who act to impede the investigation, and seemingly of their own initiative. For whatever reasons – family loyalty, desire to protect the Church’s public image, to protect their own status and comfort levels – they dither. They equivocate. They excuse. They obstruct. In many cases, they knew damn well what was going on, but they had known and not acted for so long that any action now would be self-condemning. Which only made the final fall and consequences all the more tragic.
brad/futuristguy wrote:
Amen, Brad! I add my sincere thanks to all who engage in “citizen journalism.”
@ Iron Viking:
Fascinating comment! Thanks!
@ Nancy2:
Oh yes, Courageous, the film that won the top award – $101,000 – at Doug Phillips' now defunct San Antonio Independent Film Festival.
Stephen Kendrick had a direct association with Dougie / Vision Forum because he taught at his filmmakers academy. Here is one of their collaborations đ
Christiane wrote:
One can’t sexually molest another person, especially a child, without immediately seeing and hearing the suffering of that person. It’s immediately obvious in their cries, the fear in their eyes, and the efforts of their bodies to get free of the tragedy being imposed on them.
I would think those reactions of pain and fear would forever be etched in the mind of the perpetrators. With all due respect, I don’t see the failure as a matter of pride, but rather callous insensitivity.
Nancy2 wrote:
“I THANK THEE, LOOOOOOORD, THAT *I* AM NOTHING LIKE THOSE FILTHY ROMISH PAPISTS OVER THERE…”
Victorious wrote:
Or worse:
“Those reactions of pain and fear” make the sex all the more Delicious(TM)…
Just as a side note: David Brooks, opinion columnist for the NYTimes, quoted Tim Keller on marriage in his column today. I broke my longstanding position of NOT logging in to the Times to leave a comment on Bobo’s column because people need to know that Keller is a complementarian.
Nick Bulbeck wrote:
Apologies to all: I missed the fact that this was auto-corrected. Of course I actually attempted to write: I should probably read the post THE NOO.
‘tcha!
#ochayean’a’tha’
@ brad/futuristguy:
Excellent find!
Lydia wrote:
I like searching for (or creating!) quotes that hit you like a double shot of espresso. Another *Spotlight* promo item had the 1878 quote from E.W. Scripps that I think I mentioned in a comment on an earlier *Spotlight* post:
“Give light and the people will find their own way.”
Here’s the Boston Globe’s page on *Spotlight*. It includes links to the original newspaper articles that started it, how the movie got made, responses to the movie, etc.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/spotlight-movie
We went to see this over Christmas break. I took the teens. The only ones in a packed theater of what looked to be predominantly over 50 year olds. Sad.
I told the teens beforehand to watch how decent people turn a blind eye for so long without really realizing it because of their misplaced respect for an institution they had been taught to revere. Also how many victims were never really listened to. And to note the power of the individual institution.
They talked about the movie a lot and the feedback was basically, your mom took you to an R rated movie? And not from church teens! Sigh.
Evangelicals can be like the guy in the movie who spoke of the priest visiting their home: It was like God coming over.
Too many evangelicals worship the gurus without realizing it.
@ mirele:
The Kellers have a tendency to play both sides (the cosmopolitan Christian intellectuals vs the insider evangelicals making a buck off Neo Cal movement) and it is getting old.
@ Christiane:
The problem is the same top down system exists. However, there might be vigilance for a while.
Less frivolously, I would like to pick up on @ Futuristic Brad’s earlier comment.
There is such a thing as an evangelist. The word doesn’t occur much in the NT, but it does occur. The famous/infamous 4th chapter of Ephesians indicates that Jesus himself appoints them. On the other hand, Paul tells Timothy to “do the work” of one (in his second letter to Timothy).
There is also such a thing as a prophet. The word – and the office – is also briefly referenced in the NT, an interesting case being Agabus in Acts 12, and he was stated to be one of a number of prophets. Ephesians 4 also states that Jesus himself appoints prophets. But I often wonder: is it possible, likewise, do do the work of a prophet? Nehemiah was a major figure in Jewish history, leading at least a remnant of the Jews back from exile; but if God ever appeared to him in a vision to appoint him as the Lord’s Anointed, it wasn’t recorded in scribshrrr.
Sometimes, there are simply believers who observe things that others do not – or will not – see. And they shine light on those things because it seems to them the obvious thing to do.
Seeing things others don’t see, whether through divine revelation or simple honest perspective, has never been an easy life to lead. An old saying holds that in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is King; but that’s only half the truth. It’s equally true that in the country of the blind, the sighted are freaks. And they’re not often liked for it.
Genuine prophets have always been forced to share the airwaves with cranks, crackpots and false prophets. For all the lazy misuse of the word “bitter” demonstrated by stubborn leaders and their lackeys, some people actually are bitter and toxic. They, along with single-issue fanatics, axe-grinders and the self-deluded heresy police all compete for attention alongside those who simply want to speak out on behalf of the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed who have no voice, or who need to know their voices aren’t alone. The same reproach is thrown, from all sides, at all of these, and to speak up for the oppressed means to share in that reproach.
The likes of Driskle can obviously talk about how “devastating” it is to be criticised about their motives, but in the meantime, they do still have their book deals and six-figure salaries, and the applause of conference audiences. And they’ve usually made certain compromises to get them.
Deebs: ISTM that you have chosen which Master you’ll serve. Then again, maybe He chose you first.
Nick Bulbeck wrote:
It’s called “low signal-to-noise ratio”.
As Martha from Ireland put it in an Internet Monk comment thread, lots of saints’ biographies include some church authority figure (bishop or abbot) who’s usually cast as the Bad Guy Skeptic. But this authority figure has had to deal with so many cranks and crackpots that he’s going to be skeptical when a real holy man appears — especially if that holy man doesn’t fit the conventional image of holiness.
I just finished watching the film. It was superb. I shed a few tears at the end scene, where the Spotlight office was being inundated with calls from victims.
I wonder if any of the celebrity preachers scheduled to speak at the T4G conference have viewed the film?
@ Todd Wilhelm:
Purchased Spotlight today and plan to watch it with my family this evening.
Because the movie has been nominated for Best Picture and has earned other Oscar nominations, it has been re-released in some theaters in some cities. I saw it last Sat. night in CT. Excellent movie! Thanks to the Deebs for focusing on it on your blog. At the end of the movie, the audience sat in stunned silence as we tried to process what we had just seen. The movie listed a lot of cities both here & abroad in which child sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church had occurred.
I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school for 2 years. Perhaps that primed for PDI/SGM. I attended Fairfax Covenant Church for 10 years. I knew nothing about the child sexual abuse cases there until I read about them on the SGM Survivors blog. I agree with other readers that the cases in SGM and other churches (that this blog and others are writing about) are the Spotlight cases in our times. Deb & Dee, please keep up the good work in shining the light and exposing the darkness!
Lydia wrote:
Except Real True Christians call him “Pastor” instead of Priest.
“The new Presbyter is but old Priest writ large.”
— John Milton
Lydia wrote:
And the completely-independent IFB/KJV/Mega/TrulyReformed/whatevers (with no trace of any top-down system) are completely immune to clergy sex/pedo scandals?
How âSpotlightâ missed the story (COMMENTARY)
by William F. Baker
http://www.religionnews.com/2016/02/23/176100/
Snippet:
—–
[The film] leaves out the crucial fact that it was a vigilant Catholic publication, NCR, which first told the truth about an issue that would transform the Catholic Church and the lives of its members around the world.
Nick Bulbeck wrote:
This is so very true.
Daisy wrote:
That was interesting to read, Daisy.
“By the time The Boston Globe succeeded in bringing the scandal to the attention of the entire world, NCR had been doggedly covering the story for 17 years, often alone. Secular publications, including The New York Times and The Nation, wouldnât go near the topic. Even the rest of the Catholic press stayed silent.”
It impresses me all the more how important it is to keep telling the truth and not give up.
The now-defunct Boston Phoenix also talked about the scandal back in the 1990s. At that time, I was of the opinion that Scientology had positively the worst legal department out there. A friend of mine sent me an article from the Phoenix which described the shenanigans of the Boston Archdiocese’s legal representation in the mid-1990s and the questions they asked victims. Of COURSE nobody was going to step forward if their entire lives were going to be picked over, piece by piece, in depositions.
That said, the Phoenix and NCR had a small footprint compared to the Boston Globe of those days. The Globe brought the attention of the nation to the child sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church. Even down here in Arizona, we knew about it (and we had some priests involved). A friend of mine went to a hastily set up Q and A at his parish by a revered and popular monsignor/pastor. J. walked out of the meeting convinced Monsignor F. was lying about what he knew. As it turned out, he was. Monsignor F. is no longer a Catholic priest.
@ Daisy:
Yes, that was an interesting article. How sad that this abuse just went on and on and on.
And there is a common factor with Got Hard, Cosby, and all those priests:
THEY WERE THE ABOVE-REPROACH ROLE MODELS EVERYONE RESPECTED AND LOOKED UP TO.
In the religious context, they were the Godly Ones — the Most Spiritual ones, God’s direct representatives upon Earth.
mirele wrote:
Tell me about it.
I’m in Diocese of Orange, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and our Archbishop was not only asleep at the switch, but in the coverup up to his eyebrows. Morning and afternoon drive-time talk radio still refers to him (the office, not the particular man) as “Archbishop-Pedophile” and “Cardinal-Pedophile” and assume everything coming out of church authorities is automatically 100% a lie.
@ Nick Bulbeck:
Nehemiah 2:11 indicates that at some point God had spoken to Nehemiah and put it in his heart to do good to Jerusalem.
Just in case anyone has missed it a lot of discussion is still going on on my guest post here:
http://thewartburgwatch.com/2016/02/10/maranatha-ministries-reconsidered-steve240s-new-blog/comment-page-1/#comment-240879
Tom Cooper the author of the book that I question especially the title of has entered a number of comments but still failed to answer my basic question why pride and arrogance isn’t in his book on Maranatha Ministries.
Tom Cooper has also gone from indicating:
– “I also had many conversations with Steve240 over the years and greatly value his perspective.”
to
– “Every conversation with Steve Wells really is like Groundhog Day all over again.”
and now
– ” For seven years I have been stalked by an authentic relentless cyber bully.”
He also made some serious accusations without providing any backup.
Just making people aware. Usually with TWW comments die down pretty quickly once a new post goes up.
Please pray for my mother in law. Her scans came back positive for tumor growth and spread. They started a new treatment on her today and she had a bad reaction. I am still at Duke Raleigh with her
@ Headless Unicorn Guy:
No. Their system is a problem, too
@ Dee:
@Dee — thanks for letting us know. Praying …
@ Dee:
We’ll be praying, Dee. God bless you for taking care of your mother-in-law.
Sorry to hear this Dee. I will be praying for your mother in law.
@ Dee:
Dee, don’t forget to take care of yourself, too!
@ Dee:
I am so sorry to hear that. I know it is hard. Let me second what Nancy2 said; you take care of yourself through all this.
@ Dee:
Praying for you folks. Please take care of yourself.
@ Victorious:
that phrase ‘the proud’ refers to the higher-ups who decided to hide the truth and shield the perpetrators from authorities . . . reason: they didn’t want ‘scandal’ . . . and they weren’t thinking about future victims, so you are right about the insensitivity of those leaders
today in the Church, there is a ‘no tolerance’ policy which I hope is enforced strictly . . .
as far as ‘denomination’ or ‘divisions’ in the Church, however it is called;
I think the WHOLE Church suffers when a victim is hurt, and the WHOLE Church needs to get over ‘pride’ and fear of scandal when dealing with perpetrators . . . these SGM leaders need to get over themselves and do the right thing in order to protect future victims from harm OR these leaders will lose a LOT of credibility . . . the taint of ‘coverup’ is worse for those who shelter under the Holy Name of Christ, because it implies that these leaders have contempt for what is holy. These leaders need to do the right thing and hand their perpetrator buddies over to the authorities. There is no other option.
@ Dee:
May God give all of you peace, wisdom, and healing.
I can’t believe you two are supporting this Satanic attack on God’s church.
Dee wrote:
May God surround you both with supernatural peace in the midst of this storm. May God give the doctors and nurses wisdom to know how to deal with the reaction so that your MIL feels better soon! Amen.
@ Dr. Fundystan, Proctologist:
You should have included a wink so our newer readers will be able to recognize your sarcasm. đ
Just watched Spotlight again, and it was so well done. Hope it wins Best Picture.
@ Dee:
She is so blessed to have you at her side.
@ Steve240
Hang in there. The use of compliment then insult or accusation is typical. I have no experience with Maranatha but am quite familiar with what happens in “ministries’ when it comes to pride and arrogance.
Todd Wilhelm wrote:
I know!
It was so familiar when earlier some of the victims were so skeptical any real story would be done because they had tried before and so few really listened or believed them. It reaffirmed my stance on the importance of listening to victims.
Praying for you and your mother-in-law!
Dee wrote:
Will do…
The peace of Christ be with you, your mother-in-law, your husband, and all the rest of your family Dee.
Caregiver is your middle name. You are an awesome lady.
Hey Dee. I’m sending up many prayers for your mother-in-law and the rest of your family.
Lydia wrote:
And it’s not limited to “Ministries(TM)”. Complement-then-insult or backhanded complement/insult (either precisely targeted so only the target recognizes it as a putdown or for Plausible Deniability) are standard tactics for smart abusers who know how to wear their Angel of Light mask.
Lydia wrote:
Like successful abusers everywhere, only the victim has seen what lies beneath the Angel of Light Mask.
Like the standard interview with relatives and friends of serial killers and serial rapists — “How could it be him? He was such a NICE boy. So Polite.”
Stephen S wrote:
In the theater I was at, after the final acting scene, something comes up that was really overwhelming to see on a giant screen in the pitch black. I heard audible gasps over the shear volume of the information. Then more sighs and mini-gasps as audience members were reading something that you could tell struck close to home. When that ended there was dead silence in the entire theater. Not a sound. I reminded of watching the ending to American Sniper – which was especially poignant since that rainy day funeral procession was covered on every single network here in DFW. Just stunned silence with a few sniffles. I hope the effect is not lost on DVD.
I hope that the commercial and critical success of this film will encourage more exposes in the future.
Dee,
Sending prayers to you and your family.
Deb,
Thanks for highlighting this movie. Wallace and I saw it, it was riveting, painful to watch and so well done. I'm so thankful to those who made it. The final scene left me speechless.
LT wrote:
They said the same about Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.
Please allow the irony to sink in.
Mark Driscollâs Latest Sermon at Grace City Church âBecoming a Godly Man.â (Feb 2016)
http://www.jorymicah.com/mark-driscoll-back-on-stage-as-a-dying-star/
Deb wrote:
LOL! Indeed.
Dee wrote:
I’m so sorry, Dee. I will be praying.
Headless Unicorn Guy wrote:
It has turned my ability to trust upside down.
@Dee – I was praying for you the other day. Will keep the prayers coming.
Gothard is apparently threatening a lawsuit against his victims: http://homeschoolersanonymous.org/2016/02/19/bill-gothard-threatens-recovering-grace-with-a-1000000-lawsuit/
Anyone shocked?
I was disappointed to have missed it in theatres, but found it available for purchase last week – streaming – on Amazon video. I purchased it and watched it last night. It is incredibly well done. When the psychotherapist said he figured 6% of the priesthood were pedophiles, I couldn’t help but wonder how that transfers to protestant pastors. There are different variables involved, but there’s a number to start with, and it’s far too high.
Lydia wrote:
Lydia, you are so right about this. The Keller's shtick is getting old and exposed for what it is: an angle.
Daisy wrote:
This is very disturbing news. I wrote an article less than one week ago in which I talked about Driscoll and then mentioned Josh McPherson’s ties to him. My interest in Grace City Church in Wenatchee, WA stem from the fact that I lived in Wenatchee for a few years and my wife grew up in Wenatchee. We attended a Charismatic church there that went off the rails. I have at least 2 friends I knew from my Bethesda days that now attend Grace City Church.
https://thouarttheman.org/2016/02/15/3520/
@ Nickname:
6% – That's a frightening thought.
I think that more people know who some pedophiles are or may be than they will admit. There was a case in one of the local RCC churches in which a local priest was recalled to somewhere not because he himself had done any sexual abuse but because he had mentored some young priest who had. So, maybe he knew and did not tell? Mentor is not the same as confessor so surely there was no clerical privilege involved. Maybe he needed to have reported his suspicions? Maybe he himself became suspect because he had not sounded the alarm. The entire story did not come out here though some of it did.
But I am thinking that if somebody reports suspicions based on conversations or observations they have no protection while doing that. If a crime has been done then reporting is not quite so dangerous but we live in a society which tells the kids to not tattle tale. The tattle tale is disciplined at home and at school and apparently now at church. Gossip, don’t you know.
I don’t know how to accomplish early detection in the case of a pedophile-before the damage is done.
Headless Unicorn Guy wrote:
Who are, of course, empowered by their very respectability….
@ Headless Unicorn Guy:
The SBC system is no better: http://stopbaptistpredators.org/index.htm
The problem is people’s actions (or inaction), not church polity per se.
Catholic bishops also claimed to have “no authority” to deal with this issue. The SBC leaders are still clinging to that bogus and pathetic excuse for their refusal to act rightly on this issue: http://stopbaptistpredators.org/documents/thomas_doyle.html
Pope Francis has been a disappointment in regard to this issue, to say the very least: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/world/americas/calling-protesters-in-chile-dumb-pope-francis-sets-off-uproar.html?_r=0
He should not have appointed Barros, and he has only defended his actions since.
“Spotlight: Lessons to be Learned” by Christa Brown: http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/2016/02/spotlight-lessons-to-be-learned.html
NY Bishop Rape Shames Abuse Victims: Boys Are âCulpableâ For Their Actions At 7 Years Old
http://churchandstate.org.uk/2015/09/ny-bishop-rape-shames-abuse-victims/
Snippet:
—
Bishop Robert Cunningham of the diocese of Syracuse, NY doesnât think priests should take all of the blame for decades, if not centuries, of sexual abuse against young boys. According to Cunningham, the âage of reasonâ in the Catholic church is seven, so those boys are culpable for their actions.
Congrats! Spotlight on your Oscar win!!
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