Jason Berry

In the early 1980s, Fund for Investigative Journalism support, Jason Berry published reports in Gambit Weekly and Southern Exposure linking toxic waste pit deals with Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards's cronies and brothers. in 1985 Berry published pioneering reports on Catholic clergy sex abuse cases in The Times of Acadiana and National Catholic Reporter. In 1992 he published Lead Us Not Temptation (Doubleday), a milestone work on the church's protection of sexual predators, still used in newsrooms. Berry collaborated with the late Gerald Renner in a 1997 Hartford Courant investigation of child abuse accusations against Father Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ religious order, which the Vatican had long ignored. The Legion attacked Maciel's victims, and the reporters for several years on a website claiming Maciel's innocence. The journalists' 2004 book, Vows of Silence (Free Press) chronicled Pope John Paul II's sheltering of Maciel. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI banished Maciel to a life of penance. Berry's 2008 film, Vows of Silence, probed the failure of the Vatican justice system. It aired in several European countries and won the Docs D.F. award in Mexico City for best television documentary. Jason Berry has worked several times as a news consultant with ABC's Brian Ross. With support from the Investigative Fund, Berry uncovered a history of "elegant bribes" to Vatican officials by Maciel and the Legion. In 2011 he published Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church (Crown) which won the I.R.E. Best Book award. in 2014 he was co-producer of Antony Thomas's Frontline documentary, Secrets of the Vatican. Last updated July 2017