Spotlight Quotes
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.
Walter 'Robby' Robinson: Well, certainly, the best that priest could hope for.
Movie: Spotlight
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 I sent you all of this stuff! It's all... right here! [silence, Phil composes himself]
Phil Saviano: May I use your bathroom? [pause]
Matt Carroll: Yeah, sure, Phil.
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 I sent you all of this stuff! It's all... right here! [silence, Phil composes himself]
Phil Saviano: May I use your bathroom? [pause]
Matt Carroll: Yeah, sure, Phil.
Movie: Spotlight
Mitchell Garabedian: Three years ago I get a call from an ex-priest, Anthony Benzovich. He was at Blessed Sacrament back in '62, and he saw Geoghan... [waits for two cops to pass by, then continues]
Mitchell Garabedian: ... taking little boys up to the rectory bedroom. So he's appalled, all right? And tells the bishop about it. The bishop threatens to re-assign him... to South America.
Mike Rezendes: Jesus.
Mike Rezendes: Yeah. So, fast forward thirty-five years. Benzovich reads that Geoghan has been charged with molesting hundreds of kids. So, he feels guilty. He calls me.
Mike Rezendes: So, you have testimony of a priest telling his superiors about Geoghan in '62?
Mitchell Garabedian: [shakes his head]No, I do not. Because when I call Benzovich in to give a disposition, he comes in with a lawyer.
Mike Rezendes: Wilson Rogers!
Mitchell Garabedian: Right. And suddenly, Father Benzovich has a very foggy memory. Can't remember anything. He's useless. So, I go back to work, I forget about it, whatever. Until about a year ago, I find an article about a priest who warned church officials about Geoghan.
Mike Rezendes: Benzovich went to the press?
Mitchell Garabedian: Yeah. Local paper, Patriot-Ledger. Nobody saw it. But now I got Benzovich on record. So, I file a motion to depose Benzovich a second time. And Wilson Rogers, that smug son of a bitch, files a motion opposing my motion. And that's when I have him.
Mike Rezendes: Have him how?
Mitchell Garabedian: Rogers opposes my motion, so I have to make an argument as to why I'm allowed to depose Father Benzovich a second time. Okay? But this time, I'm allowed to attach exhibits. You follow what I'm saying?
Mike Rezendes: The sealed documents?
Mitchell Garabedian: Yes! I can attach the sealed docum
Mitchell Garabedian: ... taking little boys up to the rectory bedroom. So he's appalled, all right? And tells the bishop about it. The bishop threatens to re-assign him... to South America.
Mike Rezendes: Jesus.
Mike Rezendes: Yeah. So, fast forward thirty-five years. Benzovich reads that Geoghan has been charged with molesting hundreds of kids. So, he feels guilty. He calls me.
Mike Rezendes: So, you have testimony of a priest telling his superiors about Geoghan in '62?
Mitchell Garabedian: [shakes his head]No, I do not. Because when I call Benzovich in to give a disposition, he comes in with a lawyer.
Mike Rezendes: Wilson Rogers!
Mitchell Garabedian: Right. And suddenly, Father Benzovich has a very foggy memory. Can't remember anything. He's useless. So, I go back to work, I forget about it, whatever. Until about a year ago, I find an article about a priest who warned church officials about Geoghan.
Mike Rezendes: Benzovich went to the press?
Mitchell Garabedian: Yeah. Local paper, Patriot-Ledger. Nobody saw it. But now I got Benzovich on record. So, I file a motion to depose Benzovich a second time. And Wilson Rogers, that smug son of a bitch, files a motion opposing my motion. And that's when I have him.
Mike Rezendes: Have him how?
Mitchell Garabedian: Rogers opposes my motion, so I have to make an argument as to why I'm allowed to depose Father Benzovich a second time. Okay? But this time, I'm allowed to attach exhibits. You follow what I'm saying?
Mike Rezendes: The sealed documents?
Mitchell Garabedian: Yes! I can attach the sealed docum
Movie: Spotlight
Phil Saviano: 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.
Movie: Spotlight
Richard Sipe: If you really want to understand the crisis, you have to start with the celicabacy 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 protects pedophiles.
Movie: Spotlight
Richard Sipe: After the first major scandal in Louisiana, Tom Doyle, the secretary-canonist for the papal nuncio, coauthored a report warning that pedophile priests were a billion-dollar liability. That was in 1985.
Movie: Spotlight