Moving on from Clerical Abuse Case

Times of Malta
November 14, 2012

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121114/editorial/Moving-on-from-clerical-abuse-case.445282

Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief that this court case is finally over.

Two former priests who have used every legal tool at their disposal to drag out a very sad episode will finally go to prison for abusing children in their care after an Appeals Court confirmed their convictions yesterday.

Godwin Scerri and Charles Pulis, formerly members of the Missionary Society of St Paul, were sentenced in August 2011 to five and six years’ imprisonment respectively for sexually abusing boys in their care at St Joseph Home in Santa Venera. However, rather than show contrition for what they had done, they chose to prolong the pain for their victims.

Their approach, though legally permissible, was not morally commendable – even if at the conclusion of the appeal yesterday the presiding judge found that the charges filed in relation to one of the victims against Mr Pulis was time-barred and that Mr Scerri was not guilty of abusing one of the boys from several who made allegations. Ultimately, this was of little consequence because Mr Justice David Scicluna felt it made no difference to the prison sentences they were handed by a magistrate last year.

The primary relief comes for the victims themselves. The incidents took place many years ago and all of them now are grown men, some with families of their own. But their psychological scars have been clearly visible throughout. These are the indelible marks that the former priests have left on these human beings.

For them it has been an intolerable struggle for justice. They first waited for years, as many victims do, to speak out. And when they did, they were mistreated by the justice system.

It is a hugely embarrassing fact that this criminal case took almost a decade to reach its conclusion.

The Church itself has not emerged well from the scandal either.

Its Response Team, tasked with dealing with such cases, proved woefully inadequate and it took the intervention of the Vatican’s chief prosecutor, Mgr Charles Scicluna, who is now Malta’s new Auxiliary Bishop, to move things along.

The time has now come not to forget – these things can never be forgotten – but to attempt to move forward.

With the judicial process now over – at least one would hope it is over – the ball is once again in the Church’s court to ensure that it treats the victims with the compassion they deserve.

Some of the victims have not always helped themselves with their aggressive utterances. However, the Church must make good on its promise to give them access to the board it has set up offering therapeutic services for victims of abuse by the clergy.

It should also ensure that they receive compensation and also continue to promote a culture in which it receives with compassion all those who come forward with allegations of abuse.

Mgr Scicluna can use his broad experience to help bring this about, while it behoves the rest of us to constantly bear in mind that the large majority of priests in our community do nothing but good.

There has, of course, been another loser in this terrible case and that is St Joseph’s home. It is often forgotten that this institution has done sterling work in the past and still does so today, caring for around a dozen children who have not got the opportunities in life enjoyed by many others. They should not be penalised because of the heinous acts that Mr Scerri and Mr Pulis have been found guilty of committing.

On the contrary, the public should support them more than ever.