The Vatican is still reviewing the case against a fourth Maltese
priest who was implicated in the scandal that has seen two priests being
sentenced to prison last week for sexually abusing young boys in their
care.
Fr Conrad Sciberras was implicated in the testimonies and reports
submitted by some of the victims who used to live at St Joseph Home, Sta
Venera, and grouped together to expose the abuse.
Fr Sciberras was never brought to justice because the allegations
made against him were time-barred, according to the victims’ lawyer,
Patrick Valentino.
Fr Sciberras was not interrogated by the police
either.
In the case of the other two priests – Charles Pulis, who has since
been defrocked, and Fr Godwin Scerri – some of the claims were recent
enough to tie all the allegations together.
There was a third cleric, Bro. Joseph Bonnet, from St Joseph Home,
who faced court charges but died before the Vatican or the courts
concluded their cases.
“The case against Fr Sciberras is still pending,” sources at the Vatican said yesterday, without giving any more details.
Fr Sciberras had been mentioned in a letter to the abuse victims by
the Missionary Society of St Paul. The letter said the allegations were
investigated and the Response Team established they were “founded”.
Like the other priests involved in the scandal, as a precautionary
measure Fr Sciberras was immediately prevented from working with
children as soon as the allegations surfaced.
Although he had been thought to have fled Malta not to face charges,
his superior general, Fr Bernard Mangion, had explained last year he
had been serving at Casa Generalizia, on the outskirts of Rome, since
1999, four years before the accusations first surfaced.
Fr Mangion said
Fr Sciberras denies the allegations.
But Lawrence Grech, one of the victims who reported abuse by Fr
Sciberras, has challenged him to face his alleged victims.
“He’s saying
the allegations are untrue. We are ready to meet and challenge him.”
Mr Grech called for the Church to conclude its investigations for the victims to be able to get the closure they need.