By Scott Grech
Malta Independent
June 28, 2011
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=127848
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Eight years of agonising court proceedings for a group of orphans who found the courage to come forward with claims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, are finally drawing to a close.
The verdict on whether two of the priests are guilty or not is expected to be handed down on 2 August, Lawrence Grech, who often acts as the orphans' spokesman, told this newspaper yesterday.
There were fears, Mr Grech said, that the criminal case against three priests charged with child sex abuse would be suspended until the determination of a constitutional application filed by the accused claiming their case was prejudiced by the media.
"However, thankfully for us, the criminal court said that irrespective of the constitutional application filed by the priests, it is ready to hand down judgement. We are confident that our prayers for justice will finally be answered," Mr Grech said.
It was back in 2003 that cases of long-running sexual abuse at the St Joseph's Institute in Sta Venera were revealed in public. Standing accused are Fr Charles Pulis and Fr Godwin Scerri. Fr Conrad Sciberras, who also stands accused, has since fled to Italy and cannot be found.
Another accused who was present for most of the court proceedings was 63-year-old Bro Joseph Bonnett who, however, died last January.
It was only after stories by Lawrence Grech and two other men broke on Bondiplus and this newspaper in 2003 that the police started taking the victims' allegations seriously. Mr Grech said that since then, court proceedings against the three accused moved at "a snail's pace, which prolonged our search for justice."
On 12 April 2010, Mr Grech, on behalf of the other nine victims, the majority of whom have never shown their face in public, demanded an apology from the Church at a press conference prior to the Pope's 26-hour visit to Malta that month.
Shortly afterwards, the group had a meeting with Archbishop Paul Cremona and during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Malta he had a private meeting with the alleged victims, which caught worldwide media attention.
A Vatican statement later said that the Pope was deeply moved by the victims' stories and expressed his shame and sorrow over what the victims and their families have suffered.
"He prayed with them and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future," the statement said.
At the end of October last year, the victims informed the media that the local Church wrote to them telling them that their allegations were founded, and that their case will now be sent to the Vatican for adjudication.
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