The Vatican newspaper on Monday lauded the film Spotlight for giving voice to the pain of the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy.

The film tells the story of how the Boston Globe uncovered a massive scandal of child molestation in the city’s archdiocese. It stars an array of stars including Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery and Liev Schreiber.

The film gives “a voice to the shock and profound pain of the faithful”, said an opinion piece by columnist Lucetta Scaraffia. “It’s by now clear that in the Church too many were worried about the image of the institution and not the gravity of the act.”

During his brief acceptance speech, Spotlight producer Michael Sugar called on Pope Francis to protect children.

Scaraffia’s piece called Sugar’s comments “positive”, adding that they showed that “there’s still faith in the institution, there’s trust in the Pope”.

“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those,” Australian Cardinal George Pell said via video link from Rome to Sydney on Sunday.

“I’m not here to defend the indefensible.”