It was a good thing that the movie "Spotlight" won Best Picture during last Sunday's Oscar Awards since it helped raise awareness regarding the sexual abuse crisis that rocked the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, particularly in Boston.
The film, which took years to research, follows Boston Globe journalists who in 2002 revealed that church officials had routinely covered up reports that priests had sexually assaulted dozens of children. The Boston Globe won a Pulitzer Prize for its efforts.
But Christopher White, associate director of Catholic Voices U.S.A., said that people should also cite the Catholic Church's response to the abuse allegations and acknowledge the improvements it has made since then.
He wrote in an article for The Washington Post that the movie is "a painful reminder of one of the darkest periods in Catholic Church history."
Still, White believes it was a good thing that a journalistic probe was conducted regarding the matter because the church was able to make its religious institution a safe place for children.
"The newer reforms of accountability and transparency have made the Catholic Church among the leading institutions seeking to protect minors in the United States," he said.
White wrote that the church now has a "zero tolerance" policy for abusers, adding that they are now conducting mandatory background checks on any individual who will come into contact with minors.
"If a clergy member commits even one act of sexual abuse, he is immediately and permanently removed from the ministry," White said.
"Spotlight" features the Boston Globe's in-depth investigation on the sexual abuse of minors by some people in the archdiocese, and how some members of the church tried to cover up the secret. The movie climaxed when the newspaper finally printed its exposé and listed down all other cities that have been involved in the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal.
