If you really want to understand the crisis, you have to start with the celibacy requirement. That was my first major finding. Only 50% of the clergy are celibate. Now, most of them are having sex with other adults; but the fact remains that this creates a culture of secrecy that tolerates and even…
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Josh Singer
Josh Singer (born 1972) is an American film/television writer and producer, his work includes writing and producing episodes of The West Wing, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Lie to Me, and Fringe. In 2006 he was nominated for a WGA award. He co-wrote Spotlight (2015), earning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. 2Early life and education Singer attended Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, where he appeared in musicals and was a member of math club, drama club, video club, and chorus. In high school, he was elected class treasurer, wrote for the school newspaper, and played for the school's baseball team. Singer won many awards, including the Upper Dublin Medal, science competition and literary prizes, and was co-winner of the school district's highest award. In his senior year, he was named class valedictorian, a Presidential Scholar and a National Merit Scholar. Singer graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, with distinction in mathematics and economics. At Yale, he was a member and business manager of both The Whiffenpoofs and The Yale Alley Cats. Three to four months prior to going to graduate school, he worked for Children's Television Workshop (the name, at that time, of the production company for the TV show "Sesame Street",) and then began doing internship
You guys gotta understand. This is big. This is not just Boston. It's the whole country. It's the whole world. And it goes right up to the Vatican.
Sacha Pfeiffer: [from trailer] We understand you settled several cases against the church. Eric Macleish: I can't discuss that. Sacha Pfeiffer: Are there any records of any of these settlements? Eric Macleish: No.
I was eleven. And I was preyed upon by father David Holly in Wester. And I don't mean prayed for, I mean preyed upon.
How do you say 'no' to God, right?
Walter 'Robby' Robinson: You know thirteen priests in Boston who have molested children? Phil Saviano: Yeah! Why do you keep repeating everything I say? Walter 'Robby' Robinson: [quieter than before] I just like to clarify things. Phil Saviano: Maybe you should have clarified it five years ago when…
They say it's just physical abuse but it's more than that, this was spiritual abuse. You know why I went along with everything? Because priests, are supposed to be the good guys.
Jim Sullivan: I was doing my job. Walter 'Robby' Robinson: Yeah, you and everyone else.
Eric Macleish: Most of these folks, they just want some acknowledgement... of what happened. We got them a sit down with the Bishop and... a little dough, and that's the best they can hope for. Walter 'Robby' Robinson: Well, certainly, the best that priest could hope for.
Guys, listen. Everybody's gonna be interested in this.
I wanna keep digging
We've got two stories here: a story about degenerate clergy, and a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. Which story do you want us to write? Because we're writing one of them.
Marty Baron: Did everyone read Eileen McNamara's column this weekend? Boston Globe Worker: That's the Geoghan case? Marty Baron: Yeah, what's the follow on that? Ben Bradlee Jr.: It—it's a column, what kind of follow are you thinking? Marty Baron: Uh... well apparently this priest molested kids in…
Cardinal Law: If I can be of any help, Marty, don't hesitate to ask. I find that the city flourishes when its great institutions work together. Marty Baron: Thank you. Personally I'm of the opinion that for a paper to best perform its function, it really needs to stand alone.
Marty Baron: We need to focus on the institution, not the individual priests. Practice and policy; show me the church manipulated the system so that these guys wouldn't have to face charges, show me they put those same priests back into parishes time and time again. Show me this was systemic, that…
I know there's things you cannot tell people. But I also know there's a story here people will hear about it.
They knew and they let it happen! It could've been you, it could've been me, it could've been any of us.
Mike Rezendes: [from trailer] Six percent is 90. Walter 'Robby' Robinson: 90 priests? Ben Bradlee Jr.: If there were 90 of these bastards, people would know. Mike Rezendes: Maybe they do.
Sometimes it's easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around the dark. Suddenly, a light gets turned on and there's a fair share of blame to go around. I can't speak to what happened before I arrived, but all of you have done some very good reporting here. Reporting that I believe…
Mike Rezendes: We got Law. This is it. Walter 'Robby' Robinson: No, this is Law covering for one priest, there's another ninety out there. Mike Rezendes: Yeah, and we'll print that story when we get it, but we got to go with this now. Walter 'Robby' Robinson: No, I'm not going to rush this story,…