Two victims of clerical sex abuse told the court they could not understand how their compensation case against the Church was assigned to a judge involved with the institution that abused them.
Laurence Grech and Philip Cauchi are asking the constitutional court to stop Mr Justice Joseph R Micallef from presiding over a civil case for compensation they filed against the Church.
The victims are questioning Mr Justice Micallef’s impartiality given that he is president of Radju Marija, a religious radio station run by the Dominican Order.
Lawyer Franco Vassallo, appearing for the victims, submitted a newsletter belonging to the radio station, which reported on a talk given by the judge to the station’s members.
Fr Charles Fenech, the founder of Radju Marija – who stands charged with sex abuse of a woman in a separate criminal case – was then summoned to testify.
However, the Dominican priest failed to turn up and Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti fined him €150 for contempt of court and ordered that he be escorted under arrest for the next sitting.
Mr Justice Chetcuti initially objected to the victims testifying about their previous links with the St Joseph Home where the abuse took place, insisting the case was limited to objections about Mr Justice Micallef.
However, Dr Vassallo explained the context was important to understand why the victims were objecting. “Our clients feel let down by the Church and the sitting judge [Mr Justice Micallef] is too close to the institution that abused these men. Some of the clients are so psychologically damaged that we cannot even ask them to testify.”
Taking the witness stand, an emotional Mr Cauchi recounted how the “help” promised them by the Church took the form of hour-long meetings with a psychologist, a psychiatrist and a social worker.
He testified how one day he had been listening to Radju Marija when he heard Fr Anton Gouder, then pro-vicar, telling his audience the Church had helped the victims of sex abuse.
Mr Cauchi testified that he phoned in on the programme and told Fr Gouder that nobody had contacted him despite the case having dragged on for seven years in front of the Church Response Team.
A meeting with Fr Gouder took place at the Curia the following day and an appointment was made with the three professionals.
Breaking down, Mr Cauchi said the meetings re-opened old wounds, and he was eventually prescribed pills. He never took the pills after his doctor advised against them.
Asked by his lawyer what objection he had to Mr Justice Micallef hearing the compensation case, Mr Cauchi said: “I don't know the judge but how can he help me if he is involved with the Church? Who decided for our case to be heard by the president of Radju Maria?”
In his testimony, Mr Grech recounted how Archbishop Charles Scicluna had promised the victims help when still the Vatican’s lead child sex abuse prosecutor.
He said Mgr Scicluna had taken charge of the Church investigation and sped up matters. He recounted how Mgr Scicluna had met the victims of sex abuse at his home in Lija and urged them to seek compensation from the Church. Mr Grech said further meetings followed with Pope Benedict in Malta and then Archbishop Paul Cremona.
“There was a lot of emotions and pomp in our meeting with the Pope but again nothing concrete in terms of help ever emerged… After Mgr Scicluna became Archbishop I was on Times Talk [a TV discussion show] and challenged him to live up to his offer to help but I have heard nothing else since then,” Mr Grech testified.
He said the only help offered by the Curia soon after the criminal case was concluded were sessions with three health professionals. “They spoke to me for an hour; that is the help I received.”
Two priests, who ran the St Joseph Home for orphaned children, were jailed in 2012 after the appeals court confirmed their conviction. They were found guilty of sex abuse on eleven underage victims entrusted to their care.
Subsequently, the victims were forced to open a civil suit against the Church after it refused monetary compensation for the suffering they endured.