Matt Carroll ran to the house down the street from him.  The house used for the “treatment” of priests who were removed from their parishes for “sick leave.”   What was he hoping to see?  What did he think he would do at this house?  He posted a picture of the house on his fridge along with a sign that read, “Kids Stay away from this house.”

    Sacha sat through the lengthy Sunday morning services with her Nana.  She wondered while she smelled the thick scent of lemon furniture polish.  Was everything throughout the church, parish and diocese as scrupulously cleaned and sanitized?

    Robby poured over his old school yearbooks, searching faces and wondering.   Mike begged for interviews, hassled courthouse workers and judges and hustled for the story.  And none of them slept well.  For a year.  For a year, they gave up time with their families, sleep and most activities that did not include their work.

    What were they willing to sacrifice so much for?  As it turns out many people knew for what.  The stories were shifted from one lawyer, to a sibling, to a psychiatrist, to a priest, to a reporter, to the archbishop and so on in no particular order or preference.  The victims waited, ostracized by the nature of the crime and ignored by those who should have helped.

    As journalists in the Spotlight division of the Boston Globe searched through the records, volumes and notes, these were not isolated events.  As they sought corroboration for their findings the numbers grew.  How many children will it take to make it newsworthy?  It

 

started with a delving into a victims’ group of 11—no, 10.  It grew into the thousands.  As the number climbed, Mike, one of the Spotlight journalists, grew more and more impatient.  He was taking this story very personally.  He wondered why they should wait to show that this crime reached the highest ranks in the Catholic Church.  There might be more victims with each day they waited.  His conscience burned as he waited.  The crime grew from the city of Boston stretching around the world.  

    Robby, the supervisor of the Spotlight department of the newsroom, felt the snubs from his friends as he tried to pursue and break through the ranks.  He had gone to Catholic school.  How had he escaped?  He met with a man from his alma mater: one of the lucky ones, grown, married and with children.  But he had been picked out and groomed for his coach, a priest.  How could so many have ignored something this huge right beneath their own feet?

    With all of this hidden behind such a large and powerful organization, could a handful of regular people like these investigative journalists really break through the barricade and do something to stop the abuse?  They were up against the good ol’ boys club, money, power and pompousness.  While the victims cried out quietly for help. Will the perpetrators of these crimes against the children in their charge face justice?