Times of Malta
June 11, 2011
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110611/local/Gozitan-priest-s-sexual-abuse-claims-reignited-on-Fox-News.370035
[with video]
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| Former Republican congressman Mark Foley talking to Fox News yesterday about his own abuse and that he claims he suffered at the hands of a Gozitan priest. |
A disgraced American congressman who resigned five years ago for sending sexually-explicit messages to teenage men yesterday rekindled memories of his own alleged abuse by a Gozitan priest in a television interview.
Breaking his silence for the first time since his resignation, Mark Foley, 57, talked to Fox News about the abuse he perpetrated and linked this to the sexual abuse he is alleged to have suffered when still an 11-year-old altar boy at the hands of Fr Anthony Mercieca, now 77.
Mr Foley apologised for his “horrific behaviour” insisting it was wrong.
“I embarrassed my family, the staff, my constituents and the House of Representatives that I loved. I loved my job. I loved governing and being a part of the process. And I threw it all away. I have no one else to blame but myself.”
An alcoholic, Mr Foley said his bad behaviour had nothing to do with alcoholism but linked it to the abuse he had suffered as a child.
“It (the abuse) emanated from the sexual abuse that I received from a priest. I was 11-years-old. When you are 11-years-old and your first sexual encounter is with a priest...
“When you grew up in the Catholic faith and you were taught the lessons of the, you know, 10 Commandments, do not lie. And the priest tells you first that this is good. Secondly, he suggests, keep it between us. And if you tell anybody, I will kill myself. That’s a fairly horrific burden for an 11-year-old,” he said.
Mr Foley had claimed in 2006 that he was molested by Fr Mercieca over a two-year period some 40 years earlier. Fr Mercieca was serving in Florida, the US.
Fr Mercieca confirmed five years ago that he was “close friends” with Mr Foley but said his recollection of events was sketchy because they took place when he was suffering a nervous breakdown.
The priest had described a series of encounters, which, he said, Mr Foley might have perceived as sexually inappropriate.
Fr Mercieca had said at the time that he “might not have been conscious” of what he did.
The Gozitan priest served in the US for 38 years and befriended Mr Foley after moving from Brazil to Florida in 1966. During his time in Florida, he was assigned to at least six churches.
The priest had said that when the alleged abuse happened he considered his relationship with Mr Foley to be innocent but he later “could see how his actions could be labelled inappropriate”.
“I recall giving him back massages and he had a towel. Was it inappropriate to go for a sauna together? We also used to go and eat together. But I don’t remember the details and we went our separate ways years ago,” Fr Mercieca had said from his Gozo home.
Mr Foley was a Republican congressman and resigned after his suggestive e-mails to young male assistants surfaced. Soon after, he said he was an alcoholic and claimed to have been molested as a boy by a “clergyman”.
After Mr Foley went public with his allegations, more cases surfaced of people who claimed they were abused by Fr Mercieca when they were altar boys.
Fr Mercieca had given multiple interviews to US media when the allegations surfaced denying sexual intercourse with Mr Foley but acknowledging being nude with him.
The priest had been named by the Miami diocese and was stripped from his faculties.
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