Movie stirs conflict for journalist, mom of priest

UNITED STATES
San Diego Union-Tribune

By Kristin Gilger Dec. 10, 2015

If your son is a priest and your daughter a journalist, “Spotlight” is a jarring movie.

There are journalists and lawyers aplenty in this recently released movie about The Boston Globe’s investigation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, but hardly any priests.

I went to see “Spotlight” to cheer for the journalists. I’m a longtime journalist and journalism professor who raised a daughter who is an investigative reporter. But I’m also the mother of a Catholic priest. And that made “Spotlight” very difficult to watch indeed.

My son Patrick joined the Jesuit order of Catholic priests nearly 12 years ago, a decision that startled us then and still has the power to unsettle us now.

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