I Uncovered Abuse in the Catholic Church. Why Was it Ignored? | ‘Almost Famous’ by Op-Docs
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Published 2021-08-26
In May 1985, Jason Berry, a Catholic journalist in Louisiana, wrote his first piece on child sexual abuse in the church, for the National Catholic Reporter and the Times of Acadiana. Mr. Berry called himself a “reluctant muckraker,” but his exposé on the Rev. Gilbert Gauthe would prove to be only the first in a series of exhaustive investigations over the years, including his 1992 book, “Lead Us Not Into Temptation.” Mr. Berry appeared on national television programs like “Donahue” and “Oprah,” arguing that child sexual abuse had become “the Watergate of the Catholic Church.”
So why did it take another decade or more for this scandal to truly break? And when is a society willing to face facts that may already be sitting in plain sight? In Ben Proudfoot's "The First Report," Mr. Berry grapples with those questions and with what it means to spend years ringing an alarm bell that nobody is willing to hear.
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Credits
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Editor: David Faddis
Featuring: Jason Berry
Producers: Elizabeth Brooke, Abby Lynn Kang Davis, Gabriel Berk Godoi, Ben Proudfoot, Brandon Somerhalder, Sarah Stewart
Cinematographer: Brandon Somerhalder
Original Score Composed and Orchestrated by: Nicholas Jacobson-Larson
Co-Producer: Jeremy Lambert
Supervising Sound Editor and Re-Recording Mixer: Sean Higgins
Colorist: Stephen Derluguian
Post Production Supervisor: Dillon Brown
Post Production Coordinator: Laura Carlson
Cultural Consultant: David Faddis
Assistant Editor: Cody Wilson
Prop Graphic Designer: Brooke Granowski
Sound Designer: Alex Weiss
Second Unit Cinematographer: Haley Watson
Scoring Mixer: Erik Kertes
Musicians: Garth Neustadter, Nicholas Jacobson-Larson, Erik Kertes
Archival Digitization: Hannah Auslander
Story Reported By: Jaimie Woo
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All Comments (21)
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Hi, everyone. My name is Ben and I’m the director of this film. Thanks for watching and happy to answer any of your filmmaking questions!
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Mr. Berry, even though your story didn't get the attention it deserved at the time, thank you. Thank you for standing up and fighting for these kids all those years. You are what an investigative journalist should be: someone who tells the important stories because they're important.
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It’s not lost on me that the NYT, who also didn’t initially take this story, is just now spotlighting this man’s work….I feel so bad for him…
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I can’t fathom how many people have witnessed or have been privy to these crimes and just stayed silent.
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Jason Berry is a hero, the atrocities committed by lustful, selfish so called priest is frankly unforgivable. We will never know who these children would have been or become, so it's like a death but worse. I marvel at the children who struggle with this nightmare, but somehow find a way through faith and an irrepressible will to move forward. We as a society must continue to stop pedophilia wherever it raises it's ugly head. Jason Berry if you are reading this, I am sorry your daughter had to go so soon, she is whole and is with you always.
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Your work was not in vain, Mr Berry. It took 20 years, but you did it. You helped expose this rotten affair.
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It’s amazing how people see no problem with coverups and abandon victims.
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This man is a courageous hero for many victims of big dark demonic priests
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Almost famous? I, for one, will NEVER forget Jason Berry and what a great journalist he is. Thanks for this film.
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What a story. Excellent work NYT. Excellent work Mr. Berry.
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Mr. Berry, not everyone moved on from your work. I read your book in the 1990’s when I was de-converting from religion and it has stayed with me to this day. Thank you.
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Thank you for caring. For fighting. For saving countless children’s lives, when others weren’t listening to you.
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Mr. Jason Berry, thank you for speaking out against an ultra powerful institution when others refused to acknowledge victims.
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Whyyyy aren't these priests in PRISON? WHY are they given legal immunity??
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can u imagine the number of people who tried doing what hes done over thousands of years across the world, not including journalists.. i bet the church killed a lot of people for calling this out centuries ago
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Mr Berry, you are brave and courageous. I am so sorry you lost your daughter. A terrible tragedy but you kept fighting for other people’s children. Thank you, sir.
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The fact that we get free documentaries on YouTube by The New York Times is truly a gift. 👍
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This will never get the attention it deserves. The worse part? These types of atrocities happen in higher numbers on the Native American reservations. My dad, aunts and uncles were all victims. I think the pedophile died serving the congregation, despite the complaints. They were only ardently Catholic because of the boarding schools Native Americans were forced into. I sometimes wonder how much fewer our mental health issues would be, if my grandmother was never forced into that school.
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This was a brilliant film. I have a child with special needs and I really felt it when he said he just wanted his little girl to live.
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What a beautiful and remarkable man
