For clergy sex abuse survivors, ‘Spotlight’ Oscar win brings joy and tears

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By David Filipov GLOBE STAFF FEBRUARY 29, 2016

The phones of clergy sex abuse survivors and their advocates were lighting up Monday, a day after “Spotlight,” the movie that tells their story, was awarded Oscars for best picture and best original screenplay. Most of the calls expressed a renewed sense of validation among those who first spoke up against a sweeping conspiracy in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy.

But some of the calls reflected the reality that many victims have yet to tell their stories, their secrets still cloaked in guilt and shame that never should have been theirs.

“Very early this morning a person called me who is a survivor who had not come forward previously,” said Mitchell Garabedian, the Boston attorney who represented many of the victims in the scandal and is one of the heroes of the film, played by Stanley Tucci. “Because…