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	Gozo Diocese Probing Alleged Sexual Abuse MaltaMedia News October 20, 2006 http://www.maltamedia.com/news/2005/ln/article_11991.shtml The Diocese of Gozo is investigating allegations that Fr. Anthony Mercieca, a Gozitan resident, had an "inappropriate" relationship with former United States Republican Congressman Mark Foley in Florida around 40 years ago. The bishop of Gozo, Mgr. Mario Grech, has instructed a response team to investigate the allegations according to the policies established by the Maltese Ecclesiastical Province with regard to cases of sexual abuse in pastoral activity, and present him with a report. In a statement the Diocese of Gozo added that Mgr. Mario Grech will also pass all information he receives pertaining to this case to the response team. Bishop Mario Grech, conscious of the gravity of pedophilia, reiterated that he will cooperate with those responsible for investigating such cases "so that justice is done to the victims, the perpetrators are reformed and the common good is safeguarded". The case was revealed by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune earlier this week, with Fr. Anthony Mercieca speaking to the paper of an intimate two-year relationship he had with Mark Foley when the former congressman was aged between 12 and 13. Mark Foley resigned from the US Congress last month after a number of suggestive e-mails to young male pages were uncovered. The former Congressman has said soon after his resignation that he had been molested as a boy by a "clergyman." Speaking on Tuesday, Foley's civil lawyer, Gerald Richman told reporters the alleged abuser was a Catholic priest whose name he planned to share with the church on Wednesday. The name has not yet been revealed. The priest, who is now 72-years-old, told the newspaper that he befriended Mark Foley after moving from Brazil to Florida in 1966. The incidents allegedly took place when Mark Foley was an altar boy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and attended the parish school. According to Sarasota Herald-Tribune the Priest said that, at the time, he considered his relationship with Foley innocent. However he now believes that his actions could be labeled as inappropriate. In turn, speaking to the Associated Press, Fr. Anthony Mercieca, said that the report published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, revealing his encounters with Mark Foley was "exaggerated." He told the Associated Press that "We were friends and trusted each other as brothers and loved each other as brothers." Asked if their relationship was sexual in nature, the priest replied: "It wasn't." However Sarasota Herald-Tribune Executive Editor Mike Connelly claimed that the story is accurate, including the references to a night in which Fr. Mercieca said he was in a drug-induced stupor due to a nervous breakdown and couldn't clearly remember what happened with the then young Mark Foley. Mercieca told the Associated Press in Rome that he and Foley would go into saunas naked when he was a priest in Florida and Foley was a parishioner, but he said "everybody does that." The priest also said he didn't think it was unusual to go on overnight trips with a young boy. According to the Associated Press, Fr. Mercieca said that the reporter covering the story for Sarasota Herald-Tribune "wrote many things that I didn't say". Mercieca also said that "He quotes me as saying I had one night stands with him. That's not true." The issue has received widespread coverage by International News Services the significance of this incident to the upcoming congressional elections where the Republican Party stands to lose its majority in the House. See also: • Priest admits to relationship with Congressman
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