The Vatican’s sex crime chief prosecutor has admitted he had to
personally intervene to speed up justice for the victims embroiled in
the St Joseph Home scandal.
However, Mgr Charles Scicluna said the Maltese Church is in the
process of completely revamping its clerical abuse probing system, which
is widely blamed for delaying justice for 11 men who were abused by
three priests.
Charles Pulis and Godwin Scerri were last Tuesday sentenced to six
and five years in prison respectively for sexually abusing teenagers at
the Sta Venera orphanage.
The Vatican has dismissed Mr Pulis from the clerical state while a
decision on Fr Scerri is expected by October.
A third priest who also
faced charges died last January.
In his first interview since the verdict, Mgr Scicluna told The
Sunday Times he never doubted the version given by the victims and is
relieved the truth is out.
“I believed them because I met them and I have now developed a sense
of someone who is telling the truth or trying to express himself in a
difficult situation. I’m also calm about the judgment because it’s the
result of interplay between the best minds this country can produce,
from the prosecution to the defence.”
Rome-based Mgr Scicluna said the verdict would have repercussions on
the Church, but he believes positive aspects would emerge and send a
signal that nobody is above the law.
“The priests have betrayed their vocation but my first thought goes
to the victims. I shared the suffering of the victims and their relief
at being believed and respected.
“These kids were defenceless. They considered Bro. Pulis ‘the god’,
the one who was in control at their home. They depended on him for
clothing, food and entertainment.”
The case came to light in 2003 after one of the victims, Lawrence Grech, decided to break his silence.
Yet the victims consistently accused the Church of delaying tactics
after its response team spent eight years attempting to reach a
conclusion, while the court verdict was only delivered last Tuesday week.
Mgr Scicluna, a senior Vatican official, said he had no choice but to
give the local Church investigative bodies a necessary prod.
“Apart from my sense of loyalty to the Maltese Church, it was clear
that something was wrong. The fact that the Pope had agreed to meet
these victims (during a visit to Malta in April 2010) also meant I was
responsible to ensure that the Pope didn’t get close to this case for
image reasons. It had to be translated into justice.
“Malta was quite a tonic for the Pope and meeting the victims was
also important. But we realised that in this case the investigation took
far too long – and something needed to be done quickly,” he said.
When the Curia set up its response team in 1999, it opted to keep
priests out of the body for transparency’s sake.
But the appointment of a
former judge to head it meant he brought with him the trappings and
timings of the courts, Mgr Scicluna said. Like the civil judge, he took
eight years to decide the St Joseph Home case.
“They were delaying matters; it even seemed to be a big deal to get
the members of the team to meet up. The processes were never-ending. It
was ridiculous. I insisted the Church needs a person to carry out the
investigations quickly, who then reports to the response team, who will
decide quickly. And this is something the Curia has now agreed to do.”
Did he have faith in the members of the response team?
“Yes I did, but I had problems with the delays. I had confronted them
with the problem and Judge Victor Caruana Colombo accepted the blame.
The problem was that the judge was declaring people innocent or guilty
when this was not a canonical trial. All they had to do is declare
whether there were grounds to proceed on the claims.”
The signs were evident – Mgr Scicluna
Mgr Scicluna believes the warning signs of the convicted priests should have been evident to many for several years.
“How could so many professionals – from religious superiors to
psychiatrists – know of Mr Pulis’s personal problems and seemingly not
insist that he refrain from continuing with his leadership role at St
Joseph’s?
“The vetting of priests has to be stricter, though the Seminary and
many religious orders adopt strict guidelines. You can’t have any
discounts at that level. Formation to celibacy also needs to be taught.”
Mgr Scicluna also said that the victims deserve compensation.
“I have encouraged their lawyer Patrick Valentino to ask for damages
in the civil courts. I think they have every right. But the Church in
Malta should be proactive to help them psychologically, and if need be
financially.”
The Curia would do well to create a Victim Solidarity Fund which
could go beyond the strict demands of damages law, both in civil and
canon law, he said.
Mgr Scicluna, who is currently in Malta, said the apology issued by
the Maltese Church last Wednesday was an important first step especially
because the Curia is not used to apologies.
But this apology has to be followed by concrete action and it was
important for the Archbishop to say he would meet again with the
victims.
“I think the Church in Malta needs to give a very important signal by
showing these people that the apology goes beyond words. People
responsible for the harm should be held to account.”
The Church needs to concentrate on the victims, the formation of the
community, to create awareness that children need to be protected
against abuse, and to create programmes for religious people.
Asked whether he felt the Maltese Church’s widely criticised approach
to the divorce referendum, together with the sex scandal saga,
reflected poor leadership, he replied: “I think these recent events demand a humble exercise in
soul-searching and a new vision for the role of the Catholic Church in
Maltese society. The Maltese Church represents some of the best
qualities our nation can offer. It also has great potential to do good
to society, to challenge it. And this is its prophetic mission. It needs
to accept its failures with humility.
“We need to recognise where mistakes have happened because that’s the
way goodness is exposed. In so doing, we are also defending the good
name of so many other people who don’t make the headlines, those who do
the job without asking any favours.”
Some critics have also suggested the Maltese bishops should emulate
their Irish counterparts and resign in the wake of the sex scandal. Does
Mgr Scicluna agree with this line?
“No. I personally think nothing of this is his (Archbishop Paul
Cremona) personal responsibility. These things didn’t happen under his
watch. But the way he’s going to tackle it from now onwards is his
responsibility.”