I was asked to provide an introduction to the movie Spotlight which played at the Metro Cinema on Thursday, May 16, 2019. Here is what I said:
My name is Patricia Grell and I was raised in a strong and proud Catholic family. When I went to university I went to a Catholic university where I eventually graduated with a theology degree. I worked for 8 years in ministry — first in a parish and then a retreat centre before choosing to work at home raising 3 children.
I have come to see myself as an ally. I was an ally for the children of my community when I advocated for a lower residential speed limit. I was an ally of LGBTQ people when as a Catholic school trustee, the district attempted to ban a transgender child from using the washroom they identified with. Today I have become an ally of victims of clergy sexual abuse as I observe the Catholic Church making superficial changes to it’s policies and procedures in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis.
A number of very learned people state that clergy sexual abuse and it’s cover-up by church leaders will continue until clericalism is addressed, until substantial changes are made in the way the church forms it’s priests and until the church updates its understanding of human sexuality. In the words of Rob Talach — a lawyer who has advocated for victims of sexual abuse for 17 years here in Canada — “All the ingredients that led to the abuse of many of my clients over decades ago, still are alive and well in the contemporary Catholic church”. I have similar comments from scholars and prominent Catholics on my blog which can be found at http://www.grellblog.wordpress.com.
So the movie Spotlight which we are about to watch, reveals the Boston Globe’s efforts to reveal clergy sexual abuse covered up by the highest levels of church authority. When you watch Spotlight tonight, you will see a church in damage control, a church using every method possible to cover-up clergy sexual abuse and silence its victims.
But as you watch the movie, please think about what the Dallas News reported only yesterday: that police raided the Dallas Catholic Diocesan offices “after a detective said church officials had ‘thwarted’ his investigations into allegations of sexual abuse by priests…[When the detective] contacted other law-enforcement agencies across the country that worked on similar investigations based on search warrants, they all said the same thing: Dioceses willfully refused to turn over information.”
Given that Spotlight happened in 2002 and Dallas happened yesterday, we must ask ourselves if anything has changed in 17 years. The Catholic Church continues to cover up the deeds of priest abusers and pay off their victims. And there will be more victims. These victims may be members of our family, our friends and our neighbours as the Catholic Church in Canada continues to have free access to children and vulnerable adults through its publicly funded schools, hospitals and social agencies.
So what can we do as allies? I have created a Change.org petition as a first step to request that the Honourable Dave Lametti our federal Attorney General initiate an investigation of the archives of all 61 Catholic dioceses across Canada to:
- Ensure that justice will be sought for all victims and their families;
- Ensure that the Roman Catholic Church in Canada will be fully accountable for its actions and is no longer protecting predatory clergy; and
- Alert the police about all historic cases so that they can determine if there are any other victims.
The link to the petition is on my blog. This is a first step that we as allies can take to ensure justice for victims and safety for our communities. I hope you will join me in this cause.
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