ROME
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent February 5, 2016
ROME — Members of a Vatican commission created by Pope Francis to lead the Church’s recovery from clerical sexual abuse scandals gathered the evening before their February meeting to watch “Spotlight,” the Oscar-nominated movie based on The Boston Globe’s coverage of abuse scandals 14 years ago.
Peter Saunders, a British member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors led by Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, told Crux that some members watched the film Thursday night at the Domus Santa Marta, the hotel on Vatican grounds where the pope lives.
Francis was not present.
On background, a Vatican official said Friday this was not a formal viewing, but rather something arranged independently by some members of the commission. The viewing was first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
“The movie is excellent,” said Saunders, himself a survivor of sexual abuse. “Every Catholic should watch it, and certainly all the clergy.”
From the age of 8 until he was 13, Saunders was sexually abused by a member of his family, a lay teacher, and two priests of the Catholic school he attended in the United Kingdom.
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