'Only Time Will Rid Me of What I'Ve Been Through' ­ - Lawrence Grech

Malta Independent
November 13, 2012

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-11-13/news/only-time-will-rid-me-of-what-ive-been-through-lawrence-grech-382107650/


Following the confirmation of a 2011 sentence against two priests accused of the sexual abuse of minors in their custody, Lawrence Grech, who claimed he had been sexually abused while residing at St Joseph's Home in Santa Venera in the late 1980s, told The Malta Independent that “only time will help him come to terms with what he had been through”.

“The confirmation of the sentence is positive and at least the anxiety that I suffered as a result of hiding from the public eye what I had been through before the case came to light, is nearly over. However, time has to take its course.”

When asked whether the Church offered to further discuss compensation for the 11 sexually abused victims, Mr Grech said that the Church always made it very clear that it was not responsible for what had taken place and that "we would have to go about seeking justice against the perpetrators privately."

He also said that he looked at the priests as people he could trust and felt highly saddened to have gone through such an ordeal, describing the ordeal as “living in sin”.

Grech earlier told journalists outside the court that the next step for the victims was to seek financial compensation. He was sorry to see the two former priests jailed, but he was not prepared to forgive them for their actions.

The victims had to discuss the quantum with their lawyers, he added, going on to describe the Church as an enemy. When the case became public, Mr Grech said, no sort of aid was offered to the victims.

The money the Church spent on lawyers would have been better spent on helping the victims, Mr Grech said. The Church should assume its responsibility and the government should investigate what he said were the Church’s secret files to establish the truth.