WinkLingo
Log in

Spotlight · 2015 — Chapter 10 of 21 · 3'47" · C1

Sipe's Six Percent Estimate, Explained: Good Germans

A phone call with researcher Richard Sipe reframes the crisis. His estimate — "6% act out sexually with minors" — sounds low to the team until they do the math for Boston: roughly ninety priests. He also says a report warning of a billion-dollar liability was shelved after Cardinal Law backed out.

What happens

The Spotlight team calls researcher Richard Sipe. He argues the roots of the crisis lie in the celibacy requirement, and estimates that six percent of all priests act out sexually with minors — about ninety in Boston. He also says the Church knew: a report warning of a billion-dollar liability was shelved.

MeetingsInvestigationExplainingSuggestingCoworkersC1fastamerican
IMDb ↗

Listen for

a culture of secrecyGood Germansshelvestandpoint

00:00 / 03:47
Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
  12. ❝ MonologueSipe on the culture of secrecy4 linesPractice page ↗
Tap a line to replay it

Phrase of the scene

Good Germans

people who look away from wrongdoing and claim innocence

记者听说没人吭声，脱口问一句 Good Germans，把沉默的旁观者比作纳粹时期装作不知情的德国人。

Critics called the silent neighbors Good Germans.

Also in this scene

  • a culture of secrecy

    an environment where secrets are the norm

  • shelve

    to put something aside and stop dealing with it

  • standpoint

    a particular point of view or perspective

  • act out

    to express impulses through behavior, especially sexual ones

  • a word for everything

    a label for every case, except the honest one

Everything marked in this scene

38 notes across 67 lines

Phrase · C1take someone out of circulation"Sick leave" isn't the only designation they use when they take one of these priests out of circulation.
Grammar · B2when they take one of these priests out of circulation

time clause with when

"Sick leave" isn't the only designation they use when they take one of these priests out of circulation.
Soundout of circulation

liaison

"Sick leave" isn't the only designation they use when they take one of these priests out of circulation.
Phrase · B2a slew of somethingThey use a slew of terms. "Absent on leave,"
Phrase · B2have a word for everything

a label for every case, except the honest one

They got a word for everything, these guys. Hmm. Except "rape."
Phrase · B1move parishesAnd they move parishes way more frequently than other priests.
Phrase · B1way more ... thanAnd they move parishes way more frequently than other priests.
Grammar · B2way more frequently than other priests

way + comparative

And they move parishes way more frequently than other priests.
Phrase · B2... years topsThese guys, it's two to three years tops.
Slang · B2topsThese guys, it's two to three years tops.
Phrase · B1a clear patternYeah, it's a pretty clear pattern.
Phrase · B2a major findingThat was my first major finding.
Phrase · B2the fact remains that ...But the fact remains that this creates a culture of secrecy that tolerates and even protects pedophiles.
Phrase · C1a culture of secrecy

an environment where secrets are the norm

But the fact remains that this creates a culture of secrecy that tolerates and even protects pedophiles.
Grammar · B2the fact remains that this creates a culture of secrecy

the fact remains that clause

But the fact remains that this creates a culture of secrecy that tolerates and even protects pedophiles.
Soundculture of secrecy

weak form

But the fact remains that this creates a culture of secrecy that tolerates and even protects pedophiles.
Phrase · C1aware of the extent of somethingSo you believe the Church is aware of the extent of this crisis?
Phrase · C1a ... liabilityco-authored a report warning pedophile priests were a billion-dollar liability.
Phrase · B1back outBut then he backed out, and they shelved it.
Phrase · C1shelve somethingBut then he backed out, and they shelved it.
Soundbacked out

liaison

But then he backed out, and they shelved it.
Phrase · B2in terms of somethingDoes that sound right to you in terms of scale?
Phrase · B1something sounds low to someoneNo, not really, Robby. It sounds low to me.
Phrase · C1estimates suggest ...My estimates suggest 6% act out sexually with minors.
Phrase · C1act out sexually with someoneMy estimates suggest 6% act out sexually with minors.
Phrase · C1from a ... standpointFrom a metric standpoint,
Phrase · B2be in line with somethingyes, that would certainly be in line with my findings.
Phrase · B1not say anythingMacleish knew. He just didn't say anything.
Slang · C1shacking up withOkay, but we need something more than a metric from some hippy ex-priest who's shacking up with a nun.
Phrase · B2track someone/something downOkay, so we'll track down more victims. We'll get more priests.
Phrase · B2check something against somethingThen we can check them against the directories.
Slang · C1a shitload ofThat's a shitload of victims.
Phrase · B2work backwardsLook, what've you got? What if we work backwards?
Soundwork backwards

liaison

Look, what've you got? What if we work backwards?
Phrase · B2the other way aroundWhat if we do it the other way around?
Grammar · B1Use the directories to identify bad priests

infinitive of purpose

Use the directories to identify bad priests. Yeah, exactly.
Phrase · B2take a load of workIt's gonna take a load of work.
Phrase · B2be on itWell, not if we're all on it.

Sipe's Six Percent Estimate, explained

What's really going on

The chapter works as a meeting about method, then turns into a moral gut check. First the team trades findings: priests are quietly moved with a whole vocabulary of cover — "sick leave," "unassigned," "emergency response" — so that, as one line puts it, they have "a word for everything... Except" the real one. Sipe then widens the frame, arguing the celibacy requirement feeds "a culture of secrecy that tolerates and even protects pedophiles," and that the Church knew, since a report warning of a billion-dollar liability was acknowledged, funded, and then shelved. The number he offers — six percent — is what turns the room: it sounds abstract until it becomes roughly ninety priests in one city. The scene ends on the practical fix, working backwards through the directories, and on the thin joke that gets everyone to help: "Generally that's what 'all' means."

Theme

CorruptionChurch scandal is managed with soft labels and a shelved report, not with the truth.
SecretsA whole vocabulary exists to move abusive priests quietly and keep the record silent.

Listen for

  • out of circulation — liaison
  • culture of secrecy — weak form
  • backed out — liaison
  • work backwards — liaison
They got a word for everything, these guys. Hmm. Except "rape."

The chapter's sharpest line: a lexicon built to describe everything except the crime itself.

But the fact remains that this creates a culture of secrecy that tolerates and even protects pedophiles.

Sipe's conclusion: celibacy's secrecy does not merely hide abuse, it shelters it.

Macleish knew. He just didn't say anything.

The team's verdict on the lawyer, extending the culture of silence to someone who could have spoken.

Generally that's what "all" means. Yeah. Yeah, generally.

The dry joke that quietly commits everyone to the search.

I don't think that's a comparison you want to make publically.

A warning to drop the loaded comparison, showing how carefully the team calibrates its language.

Questions about this scene

Where does Sipe's six percent estimate come from?

Sipe is a trained psychotherapist and researcher; he says his estimates suggest that six percent of all priests act out sexually with minors, which he calls in line with his findings.

Why does six percent matter so much?

It sounds abstract until the team attaches it to a number: six percent of the priests in Boston would be roughly ninety men, which reframes the scale of the crisis.

What happened to the report warning about the crisis?

Sipe says Cardinal Law initially helped fund it, then backed out, and the report was shelved, even though Church leadership had seen it.

What is the team's plan to find abusive priests?

They decide to work backwards, searching directories for designations like sick leave or unassigned, and for priests who were moved around a lot.

Why does the scene end with a joke about the word all?

One member asks whether the boss is helping too, and the deadpan reply that 'all' means all gets the whole team onto the work.

Spotlight · 21 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 11off the estimateThe Team Counts 87 Priests
Chapter 1take a hard look atBaron Meets Robinson for a DrinkChapter 2file a motionMarty Baron's First News MeetingChapter 3have something on someoneLawyers Break Down the Geoghan CaseChapter 4think in centuriesRezendes Meets GarabedianChapter 5stand aloneMarty Baron Meets Cardinal LawChapter 6preyed uponPhil Saviano Tells His StoryChapter 7the beginning of it allReporters Interview Abuse SurvivorsChapter 8out of circulationPressuring Macleish on SettlementsChapter 9it takes a villageRezendes Meets the InformantWatching · Chapter 10Good GermansSipe's Six Percent EstimateChapter 11off the estimateThe Team Counts 87 PriestsChapter 12cottage industryRobby Confronts MacleishChapter 13from the top downThe Team Goes After the SystemChapter 14sledding uphillSpringfield Hearing on Sealed RecordsChapter 15off the recordGarabedian Reveals the Sealed DocumentsChapter 16get on the same pageReporters Confront Boston CollegeChapter 17broke ranksRobby Refuses to Rush the StoryChapter 18a few bad applesPete Pressures Robby Over DrinksChapter 19on a clockRobby Gets Six Weeks to PublishChapter 20lay something on someoneRobby Confronts His Old FriendChapter 21stumbling around in the darkThe Newsroom Finalizes the Story
Chapter 10 of 21 · about 29 min to go