In the face of an aggressive opponent, merely being on the defensive will lead to an increasingly unfavorable situation. Both Murphy and Kara Faith, representing 20th Century Fox, were well aware of this. They weren't considered good people; having dared to orchestrate such news events in the past, they were not afraid of the Catholic Church's aggressive stance now.
However, despite their tenacity, they wouldn't make rash decisions.
"No matter what," Gal Gadot frowned, "we are on the losing side. How can we counterattack in a justified way? This is very important."
Murphy and Kara Faith had communicated earlier, and Murphy said, "All the families of the victims are the ones receiving media and public sympathy. We must avoid them."
Only fools would choose these people as attack points, even if they did have private dealings with the Catholic Church. The power of sympathy was still strong.
"Archbishop Marcus Costello's plan is meticulous this time," Kara Faith remarked, "Every step is solid, leaving little room for attack."
Gal Gadot shook her head, "There must be points to counterattack, right?"
She pondered for a moment and said, "The Archbishop's TV interview? The current protests? The deals between the victims and the church? There are some loopholes in these."
"Attacking these is useless," Murphy waved his hand, "Archbishop Marcus Costello must have prepared for this, and if it doesn't hurt them, they won't relent."
Looking at his fiancée, Gal Gadot asked, "What do you plan to do?"
Murphy had not disclosed this to her before. "Attack where the Catholic Church feels the pain and has to defend!"
Murphy stood up and walked a few steps before continuing, "Let's put aside the events since the shooting at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Forget about what the Catholic Church has done or the pressure they've applied to us. Let's look at what we have that can drive the Catholic Church crazy!"
Gal Gadot thought for a moment and immediately understood what Murphy meant, "The Boston Globe, Spotlight?"
"Exactly, that's it!" Murphy stopped and said, "Didn't we collect a lot of information on this before? Hand it over to Kara and let 20th Century Fox's media spread it."
Compared to those harmless rebuttals, these scandals that the Catholic Church has been desperately covering up will definitely make them feel the pain.
In terms of strategy, this is attacking where the enemy must defend, and it also diverts the media and public's attention.
After obtaining the relevant authorization from The Boston Globe, Murphy had people collect numerous cases about the Catholic Church's scandals. He initially thought these might be isolated incidents within the church, but the information he found was far more alarming and widespread than he had imagined.
Murphy had gathered not just cases but also corroborating evidence, much of it from investigations by UN agencies. However, due to strong pressure and excellent public relations from the Vatican, most of this had never been publicly disclosed.
That night, the materials Murphy provided to 20th Century Fox appeared as breaking news during the prime time slot on Fox News.
"Catholic Priests Molest Tens of Thousands of Children, Exposing the Vatican Rape Scandal!"
The shocking headline easily drew viewers' attention, and as soon as the news began airing, Fox News' ratings shot up by three points!
For any television station, this was a dream news story.
Although Kara Faith was no longer at Fox News, many people in the industry still followed a similar work style to hers from back then.
As long as the news was explosive enough, there was nothing they wouldn't do.
Of course, news without substantial content would just be hot air.
"'The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.' Wilde's words were his fearless explanation of his own sexuality, and over the years, this has been the Catholic Church's most frequently cited 'sinful phrase' in their critique of the homosexual writer. However, this phrase has now become another interpretation for the Vatican, deeply mired in sex scandals. Recently, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child conducted an investigation into the molestation of tens of thousands of children by priests..."
"The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child investigated cases where priests in the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church used a specific type of Cross pants to enlarge their ** before molesting young girls, leading to many girls' hymens being broken. In these investigations, priests claimed they were 'divine' tests of sexual ability. This absurd statement is shocking!"
Later in the evening, ABC, a subsidiary of Walt Disney, also reported on the Catholic Church.
"Choirs and repressive church schools have been hotbeds for homosexuality and pedophilia for half a century - this has long been news in Europe and the USA. The Catholic sex scandal fortress that began in the 1980s is like a real-life version of the movie 'Diego Ross.'"
"In the 1980s, Marcus Costello was not yet the regional archbishop of Southern California but had already been in a key church position in Los Angeles for three years, managing all church affairs. In February 1982, a case landed on his desk: in northeastern downtown Los Angeles, police found an 11-year-old boy molested by local priest Peter Huleman. The priest 'had the boy sit on his lap and engage in sexual acts.' After the scandal broke, Huleman was forced to leave Los Angeles, and Marcus Costello, then in charge, decided that Huleman should not be prosecuted but instead undergo psychological treatment and then be transferred to another parish."
"As a result, Peter Huleman, who should have been severely punished by law, was shielded by the church and continued his priestly career in a different parish."
While the media began reporting, Kara Faith, representing 20th Century Fox, also met with key figures from Walt Disney, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. The parties quickly reached a consensus on how to protect the mutual interests of Hollywood films.
No one wanted external forces to become a shackle on Hollywood films.
In the face of enormous interests, everything moved quickly. In just one day, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child held a press conference to release a previously suppressed report related to the Catholic Church.
At the press conference, the current chairperson, Sandberg, stated that according to reports from various national investigation committees, Catholic clergy under the Vatican have molested tens of thousands of children worldwide. However, due to the Church's "silence rule," such crimes are rarely reported to local law enforcement. To cover up the scandal, perpetrators are often transferred from one parish to another or even moved to different countries.
Sandberg added, "The committee found that the Vatican indeed adopted policies and measures that perpetuated the crimes against children and allowed the perpetrators to go unpunished. For a long time, the Vatican has prioritized maintaining the Church's reputation and protecting criminal clergy over the best interests of children. The committee deeply regrets this and strongly urges the Vatican to revise church law, clearly defining crimes against children as criminal acts rather than 'moral corruption,' and to abolish all rules that require victims to remain silent."
Other key members of the committee pointed out that although the Vatican formally signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, some provisions of church law still do not align with the convention, particularly regarding protecting children from discrimination, violence, and all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse.
At the end of the press conference, the committee called on the Vatican to fully utilize its moral authority to condemn all forms of harassment, discrimination, or violence against children and teenagers based on sexual orientation, whether of the children themselves or their parents, and to support international efforts to decriminalize homosexuality...
Soon after, online sources revealed serious incidents of Catholic priests and missionaries raping nuns in some parts of the USA. They also forced nuns to have abortions, with some being forced to take contraceptive pills...
The latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter also put aside its usual coverage to join in on the reporting.
"Over the past 30 years, four Catholic archbishops, including Marcus Costello, in the Southern California diocese, either suppressed allegations against these priests or transferred pedophile priests to other churches. They took no preventive or remedial measures, allowing pedophilia to flourish within the Catholic Church."
"Los Angeles police conspired with the church to cover up many of these cases. Many officers treated priests as a privileged class, only reporting incidents to the archbishop without conducting real investigations. The archbishops did this to keep secrets, avoid scandal, and protect the church's reputation and assets."
Such rumors had always circulated to some extent, but most media outlets, under church pressure, rarely reported them openly. But suddenly, it seemed that all media had become enemies of the Catholic Church. Many media outlets that had previously followed the trend of criticizing Hollywood films now focused their efforts on uncovering church scandals.
The combined force of the major media groups shifted the focus of the media and audience in just a few days.
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