“It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to abuse one.” Mitchell Garabedian: from Spotlight

The movie “Spotlight” tells the story of the Boston Globe’s 2002 investigative reporting unit (Spotlight) which uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and concealment within the local Catholic Archdiocese. The story shook the Catholic Church to its core. The movie premièred September 14 at TIFF in the Princess of Wales Theatre, which was full to capacity.

This movie spoke to me on two important levels. Not only did writer/director Tom McCarthy and script writer Josh Singer put a “Spotlight” on the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy and the attempts to cover it up, they also put a “Spotlight” on journalism-as it should be. McCarthy has expressed his views on journalism, “I’m a big a fan of good journalism, which has been decimated in the US.” I can add that this is a world-wide problem.

Child abuse is barbaric. Abuse by the clergy is more despicable. As a hospital Chaplin, I always knew when I entered a patient’s room that I was bringing in with me, their concept, their understanding, of God. This is a sacred act. I can think of no greater betrayal to a child than a representative of God physically or sexually abusing him or her. I can’t bear the thought of the destruction to the soul. So many of these young people, abused by the clergy, became drug addicts and alcoholics and too many committed suicide in a Church that shunned taking one’s own life.

We witness the courage it takes for the abused to come forward and share their most intimate, most frightening, and to them, most shameful moments with reporters who start off as strangers and then become their heroes.  The actor Michael Cyril Creighton portrayed Joe Crowley, a young man, abused as a child, who succumbed to alcoholism then pulled himself up and became part of the group exposing not only the abuse, but the grand cover up by the Church: a cover up that extended into the Boston community, trying to protect their beloved Church.

The movie also demonstrates the importance of quality investigative journalism and the moral courage it requires to continue to do one’s job despite barriers put up by others. For me, the Spotlight group, Sacha Pfeiffer, Michael Renzendes, Matty Caroll and Walter “Robby” Robinson, join the ranks of the righteous who choose to shine a light in the dark corners of human behaviour, bear witness to horror and share it. At the premier Mr. Robinson talked about “Stumbling around in the dark” during the long investigation.

We see that a strong-willed newspaper editor, Marty Baron (played by Liev Schreiber) can influence his journalists by directing them. At the premier, Mr. Baron praised the production company for drawing attention to good investigative journalism which holds all institutions to account. Mark Ruffalo, who played Michael Renzendes, echoed Mr. Baron. “Good journalism and democracy go together. We need good journalism for the decency of the world.” I spoke to Ben Bradlee Jr. (played by John Slattery). He, too, lamented the dearth of good investigative journalism, today. He praised the importance this movie has in showcasing the need for better reporting.

We are witnessing the death of journalism around the world. Denial of access to information, the incarceration of journalists for doing their job: searching for and revealing truth. Without these freedoms-these rights-a democracy cannot thrive. A democracy cannot even develop.

Sadly, today in the West, we are witnessing the death of ethical journalism. Too many journalists and editors in the profession, today, have chosen speed over fact-finding; political correctness over truth.

This failure to verify stories and sources, to pull back the curtain and even take a peak is leading all of us down the rabbit hole into an Orwellian World where gross injustices like that perpetrated by the Catholic Church (and in too many other religious groups) will go undocumented and tear apart the fabric of our society.

“Spotlight” shows us the importance of moral journalism where “honesty, courage, frankness and care” have a profound affect in our society.