Malta's
Catholic Church on Monday offered therapy to child victims of predator
priests in the European Union's smallest member state.
The Maltese Curia said it would provide the services of a psychologist, a psychiatrist and a social worker to child victims following rulings by lay courts or Church investigations in Malta, where abuse allegations surfaced in 2003.
"The (Church) board will evaluate and determine the necessary therapeutic help that victims may require and refer them for this help, with all costs borne by the ecclesiastical authorities," the Curia said in a statement.
In a related development, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Charles Scicluna, a top Vatican prosecutor who has led investigations over the past decade into thousands of abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church, as auxiliary bishop in Malta this month.
"I said I obey and that I would do it gladly," Scicluna, a Maltese native, said in an interview with the Times of Malta published Sunday.
Asked about reports that he was transferred because he was too "aggressive", he said: "I wouldn't call what I did in the past 10 years aggressive.
"I was very clear on what my job meant, and I was also clear on what Church policy was. I did not make this policy; this policy is in Church law," he said.
Scicluna also said his inquiries were not initially appreciated at the Vatican.
"The Roman Curia was a bit shocked that we had to go down this road until the problem came close to Italy and Europe. People then realised this was the way forward," he said.
Many initial abuse cases were reported in the United States.
"It will be a sad day in the Church when we will say 'mission accomplished'. We will have to be watchful," he added.
As EUbusiness announced, the Vatican has not yet appointed a replacement for Scicluna.
In the interview, Scicluna also stressed that he believed paedophile priests and not the Church should pay compensation for their crimes -- a sensitive issue in predominantly Catholic Malta.
The pope visited the Mediterranean island state in April 2010, when he had an emotional meeting with abuse victims.
Paedophile priest cases surfaced in Malta in 2003 when victims spoke out over abuses that they suffered in the late 1980s.
The victims -- who were young boys at the time -- said they were sexually abused by priests at St Joseph's Home, a Catholic foster home in Santa Venera.
Two priests were convicted and jailed for six years and five years respectively.
The priests, who were also defrocked, have appealed the verdicts.