MALTA
Times of Malta
Sunday, September 6, 2015 by Ariadne Massa
Gozitan priest Dominic Camilleri, a child abuser, was informed he had been defrocked six months ago once the Vatican’s 2013 decision was confirmed, according to the Curia’s Safeguarding Commission.
The commission was reacting to a Malta Today report that Gozo Bishop Mario Grech had been hesitant to inform Fr Camilleri of his dismissal, even though the Vatican decided to defrock him in May 2013.
The 63-year-old priest has been accused of sexually abusing several boys in Gozo, but details on the cases, believed to have taken place over a number of years, remain sketchy since they were never reported to the police.
Contrary to the cases of sexual abuse on minors in Malta, the victims in Gozo – the number has never emerged – shunned publicity and have been reluctant to speak out.
The case was first referred to the Curia’s Response Team (it has since been replaced by the commission) in October 2003 by late Gozo Bishop Nikol Cauchi. Fr Camilleri was found guilty by an administrative and penal tribunal within the Malta diocese.
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