Phil Saviano, a clergy sex abuse survivor and whistleblower who played a pivotal role in exposing decades of predatory assaults by Roman Catholic priests in the United States, has died.

“I can’t live in this situation anymore and I’m afraid of destroying my physical, psychological and spiritual health,” Sister Aleksandra says in “Veil of Silence,” by Salvatore Cernuzio.

This is not a movie about crime and punishment, but damage and recovery.

The Catholic Church must do a better job instructing priests on what to do if a victim recounts his or her abuse in the confessional and in the unlikely case that an abuser confesses, said Hans Zollner, S.J.

Released late Nov. 9, the 18th annual report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection stated that 3,924 child sexual abuse survivors filed 4,228 allegations.

A Cleveland-area Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to life in prison on convictions of child pornography and exploitation.