Stars join protest outside cathedral ahead of Oscar awards ceremony

Actor Mark Ruffalo (left), star of Spotlight, joined a protest outside a Catholic cathedral hours before the Oscars started on Sunday, writes Ellen Teague.

He was nominated for his role in the film as a Boston Globe reporter who helped to uncover a sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church of the New England city.

He told journalists outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles: “I’m here to stand with the survivors and the victims and the people we’ve lost from Catholic priest childhood sex abuse.”

Spotlight director Tom McCarthy and writer Josh Singer joined Ruffalo and abuse survivors.

The protest, organised by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was one of 20 held around the country prior to the Academy Awards, calling for more transparency in the Church.

Spotlight won the Best Picture award and the Best Original Screenplay Award for McCarthy and Singer.