BishopAccountability.org
	Amputate to Heal Times of Malta September 5, 2010 http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100905/opinion/editorial Earlier this year the Vatican’s chief prosecutor of sex abuse cases involving priests, Mgr Charles Scicluna, who has earned credit for his aggressive approach to the problem, said the Church “may have to amputate to heal”. The Maltese priest, who is Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, was referring to the need for the Church to sever ties if one of its members was an “occasion of sin”. However, a case could be made in the local context for his words to extend beyond that. It was with a measure of foresight that the dioceses of Malta and Gozo set up what they termed a Response Team a little more than 10 years ago, since few, if any, similar structures existed within the wider Church at the time. This body was tasked with investigating claims of abuse by hearing testimony from the complainant(s), any witnesses, as well as the alleged offender(s). Its role was then to make a finding according to the evidence and pass this on to the bishop, who would then decide (and later be compelled by the Church) whether to report the matter to the Vatican. Controversially, this Response Team did not and does not pass on any evidence to the police but instead informs complainants that they may exercise their right to file a report with the authorities in addition to any proceedings taking place within the Church. The pros and cons of this approach have been discussed at some length and it is not the object of this leader to go into them. What we would like to go into is the best known case in Malta, which involves several men who alleged in 2003 that they had been abused as boys by priests who ran an orphanage in St Venera. Quite correctly, the Response Team took up the issue and the men also reported the alleged incidents to the police. While it is understandable that dealing with a case of this nature takes some time, the fact that seven years have passed and the Response Team has still not come to any conclusion is wholly unacceptable. Not just to us and the public, but also, it seems, to the Vatican. In what can only be considered as a vote of no confidence in the workings of the Response Team, Mgr Scicluna himself met the alleged victims of sexual abuse after last April’s visit by the Pope to gain “direct” information which would “supplement” the work that had been carried out in Malta. He completed his task in a matter of weeks. Presumably to save the little face that remained, Mgr Scicluna also stressed that the Archdiocese of Malta was still “mainly responsible” for the investigation before submitting its findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith – effectively Mgr Scicluna himself, who has been carrying out his own investigation. As the months pass, the Response Team, which operates under a shroud of secrecy, has made it clear that it will not make its findings public. But, worse than that, when contacted by The Times last week, its head, retired judge Victor Caruana Colombo, refused even to state when the investigation will be concluded. This, after seven long and painful years. Enough is enough. If the Response Team is ever to regain any credibility, the personnel running it must be replaced. As Mgr Scicluna himself said, sometimes it is necessary to amputate to heal. There is little alternative in this case.
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