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	Keep Filthy Lucre out of It By Lino Spiteri Times of Malta August 15, 2011 http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/page27.html The clerical abuse case continued to be highlighted in the media over the past week. It is welcome to record that good dimensions were added to it, further to a creeping tendency which I do not like at all. This relates to the possibility of the Church paying "compensation" to the victims. That risks reducing a grave issue of grossly unethical behaviour to crude monetary terms. The victims of the cleric's abuse were hurt, no doubt about that. Deeply hurt in their psyche. They were damaged. Though years have passed since the abhorrent acts on them took place, they probably still need psychological and emotional help to come to real terms with what happened to them. To get over it. Money does not provide that. One of the best developments I referred to was an interview by The Sunday Times yesterday with Fr Frankie Cini, who has the arduous role of being in charge of St Joseph's Home, the centre of the abuses. The (court) sentence has not brought closure, he told his interviewer. Why do you think the victims are demanding a sign of remorse from the priests? "The Archbishop may apologise and so could I," said Fr Cini, who holds a Master's degree in group psycho­therapy, "but that is not really where the hurt lies." If there are fees to be paid to psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists to deal with that hurt, these should be borne by the Church, no doubt about that. But to go on to press for monetary compensation to the victims would bring filthy lucre into an area that should in no way be related to it. It would diminish the issue and also the dignity of the abused. They began recovering that dignity through their own brave actions when, eight years ago, they revealed their ordeal and insisted that action be taken. The delay in the operation of the Church Response Team and of the legal process too suspended the continuation of recovery of dignity. The court sentence finally pushed it further along. Before that there had been the healing meeting with Pope Benedict when he visited Malta. After the sentence, the healing process progressed further. Archbishop Paul Caruana last week not only apologised in the name of the Church, not least for the long time it took for truth to prevail. He quoted from the late Pope John Paul II that by covering up mistakes, in this case child abuse, the Church risked committing them again. "It is only when mistakes come out in the open that the healing can start," said the Archbishop. What happened to the abused youths was a dire mistake. A human error that all of us should note with humility. For if we do not commit that type of error, we are not immune to others. There must not now be the mistake of trying to wash away the error with financial compensation. Wrong in itself, in my view, it could also encourage future revelations for the wrong reason. Human error can reach that way as well. Money talks but, not infrequently, uses a bad language. The interview with Fr Cini was one of the most sincere I have ever read. It also brings to light new factors, such as why St Joseph's Home kept silent over the eight years since it reported the matter to the Church and also why the Response Team seemed to change course in midstream to exonerate one of the charged priests. He also gently corrects some media reports. It is worth reading and rereading. In its conclusion, Fr Cini mentions in light passing that the Sta Venera Home is rehabilitating rooms to make way for an Independent Living Project, aimed at supporting youths further into adulthood. "Sometimes I am apprehensive about continuing the project," he said. "We depend on benefactors. But who is going to support us now?" The answer to that should be that this is where money, no matter how small or big the donation, can be put to good use. The St Joseph Home has been a boon to many youths over its lifetime. The misdeed of a few of its members should not erase that or cloud our vision of how much more good it can do in the future. Our evolving society needs its contribution perhaps more than ever. Give, for even if you do not receive directly, society will.
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