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	Convicting, Defrocking and beyond By Helena Dalli Times of Malta August 8, 2011 http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110808/opinion/Convicting-defrocking-and-beyond.379260 Things seem to be moving. In a matter of some weeks we experienced two landmark episodes. There was the divorce referendum result, which was a sign that people here want to separate what is in the realm of the state from that which is the territory of the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand, last Tuesday's guilty verdict for the abusive priests showed us that crimes committed within the structures of the Church should be reported to, and processed within, the civil authorities and not left merely in the Church's domain. When Lawrence Grech (one of the priests' victims) was interviewed just after he walked out of court, he said: "I encourage other victims to report abuse". To this I add: Report to the police and not only to the Church authorities. Last year, I raised this issue in a piece here when I commented on a remark made by retired Judge Victor Caruana Colombo who had said that '"it would be useless for the Church to report priests – involved in sexual abuse cases – to the police because no criminal action could be taken without the victim's consent". I had pointed out that this used to be the case with domestic violence until we changed the law so that the police – in cases of abuse taking place privately – now have to prosecute once there is a report submitted by others who may be aware of the violence taking place and not just when the report is filed by the victim. Back then I had written that "if the Catholic Church really wanted to attack the child abuse cancer more than it wanted to protect its priests there are ways of prosecuting perpetrators criminally without harming victims... the identity of the victim can be protected. Evidence can be heard behind closed doors. The victim need not face the perpetrator; IT makes video-evidencing possible". The situation is such whereby a priest abusing children and teenagers may be treated differently to a lay person committing the same crime in that the former may simply be prosecuted internally within the Church structures. There are countries where information on cases of priest abusers is handed over to the police. When this was pointed out to Mgr Charles Scicluna – who deals with sex abuse cases for the Vatican – he had stated that "in some countries with an Anglo-Saxon legal culture, but also in France, the bishops – if they become aware of crimes committed by their priests outside of the seal of the sacrament of confession – are required to report them to the civil authorities... our position in these cases is to respect the law". Isn't it time that our Church authorities are required by law to report such crimes to the civil authorities? In the absence of this there is a probability that the abusers will be protected. The Church's procrastination when examining these cases obviously does not help. I had written the piece I referred to in the foregoing after long conversations with Mr Grech. He had told me his story about life at the children's home and how, when he sought help, he realised that it was not easy when it was your word, and that of others your age, against that of a superior. Only as an adult and, therefore, no longer living in St Joseph Home could he pluck up the courage to speak publicly and thus court proceedings were initiated. Last April, he was reported to have said that "there seems to be complete disinterest from the Curia, which appears to hope the problem will disappear. The least I would have expected is to testify again". He had said that his only hope was in the criminal case, which has been expedited in recent months. He did not hope in vain. But what is the political class doing? Abuse will always be with us but we can try to mitigate and prevent it. Our duty as policymakers is to make sure that orphans, abandoned and homeless children and teenagers are provided for properly in our welfare system. Most nuns and priests do sterling work in children's homes. They largely rely on the financial aid of benefactors and many have to put up with a heavy workload that drains them emotionally and physically. The care of children and teenagers should not be dependent on the work of these good souls, on donations and on the voluntary sector. These should only serve as support to government programmes for children and teenagers in care. As Mr Grech put it in another interview last week, this case should be an eye-opener to those in a position to do things to secure the well-being of helpless children and teenagers who do not have parents seeing to their needs. Contact: helenadalli@gmail.com
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