From an explanatory statement published in the Australian media by
Cairns Bishop James Foley, allegations of sexual abuse by a Gozitan
priest to be heard before the Australian courts appear to be unfounded,
the Gozo Curia said in a statement to The Malta Independent on Sunday
yesterday.The statements from both the Gozo Curia, as well as that published by Mgr Foley, follow below.
The Gozo Curia also confirmed that the accused, Fr Joseph Sultana, is a priest serving in the Gozo Diocese.
Last weekend, the Australian press reported that a man has just filed a lawsuit against the Australian Catholic Church alleging that he was abused “regularly” by a priest while he was a student and altar boy at St Joseph’s School and Church in the town of Cairns, in Queensland, Australia.
The priest was named as Gozitan Fr Joseph Sultana, who was ordained in 1962 and first left Malta to serve in South America, and later moved to Australia. He is said to have returned to Gozo in 1997-1998.
The alleged victim also claimed he approached high-ranking Church officials to talk to them about his sexual abuse, but they failed to take any action or report the matter to the police. He added that the Church also failed to remove Fr Sultana from immediate contact with children when they were later alerted to the abuse allegations.
The Cairns police are reportedly investigating the allegations and are awaiting information from the Department of Immigration to determine if the case against Fr Sultana could proceed.
Fr Sultana apparently lost contact with his victim after he moved to another parish, which included two churches and a primary school, shortly after a fellow priest was allegedly told about the abuse.
In an affidavit and statement to the police, the alleged victim, who is now 38, said he and his wife had revealed the abuse to Cairns Bishop James Foley in a telephone call and at a subsequent meeting at their family home in November last year.
In March, he had given a detailed statement to Cairns Police Child Protection and Investigation Unit and had launched a civil suit against the Roman Catholic Trust Corporation for the Diocese of Cairns and the Corporation of the Sisters of Mercy for the Diocese of Cairns, seeking compensation.
In court documents, the alleged victim also said that he had told a prominent priest about the abuse while it was still happening in 1981, but the priest had been angry with the then eight-year-old and had accused him of lying before ordering him to visit a school nun, who had caned him.
SIC: MIO/INT'L