The Film SPOTLIGHT-Shines the Shame on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

SPOTLIGHT is a compellling journalistic/detective drama uncovering the Hellish, systemic sexual abuse of priests in Boston who preyed upon children and the complicit coverup by the Archdiocese.  Spotlight refers to a group of investigative reporters at the Boston Globe. Their relentless & dogmatic pursuit led to factual support to victims' claims of sexual abuse by their parish priests.  Furthermore, they uncovered the church's complicit, clandestine disavowal of any culpability.  Does this movie lambast the Catholic Church?  Yes, and righteously so.  There is no longer any DOUBT that sexual molestation by priests, religious pillars in their communities was rampant and deliberately swept under the radar. Still, there is unwavering shock at the celestial scope of its perniciousness & known perpetration.  The film written & directed by Acad. Award winning screenwriter Thomas McCarthy does a superb job of following a team of relentless reporters pursuing their leads. Having a cast of headline actors corroborated the intense drama.  Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Michael Keaton are dynamic as dogged journalists.  Liev Schreiber as the editor of the paper and Stanley Tucci as a attorney for several of the plaintiffs are exceptional in their roles.  (The entire ensemble deserve Oscar nominations.)  Tucci tells Ruffalo, "It takes an outsider" to get things changed.  Tucci is eferring to himself as an Armenian atty. & Schreiber as the Jewish editor in a predominately devout, Catholic community.  Tucci, the fearless crusader also said "It takes a village to raise a child and a village to abuse one."  The perfidy does not fall on the church alone.  The servitude of silence and self-serving interests are multilayered.  Noteworthy are the failings of reporters.  SPOTLIGHT is an engrossing film. It exposes the evils within the priesthood and the plights of their victims.  As entertaining as this film is, it's essential to maintain transparency to prevent this travesty.