Nothing Compares to the Truth

I don’t know a lot. But I know that Sinéad O’Connor was right. But, alas, Sinéad O’Connor was also first. And the first to cast a righteous stone all too often get stoned themselves for being right. Thirty years ago, when Sinéad tore up the picture of Pope John Paul II while on “Saturday Night Live” to protest the Catholic Church’s unfettered sexual abuse of children, she was right. But she then became perhaps the first modern celebrity to be “canceled” for expressing her truth. Back in 1992 she was pilloried, and worse, for stating what we all today know. The Catholic Church systematically covered up the sexual abuse of children by its priests and others for decades — if not much, much longer. I’ve always loved Sinéad. And while she has struggled with mental health issues over the years (and who wouldn’t after the public evisceration she had to endure), she remains a righteous voice rising above the din of naysayers. I hope this new documentary reminds a forgetful public that, all those years ago, Sinéad was right.