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	The Clergy Abuse Scandal: Why the Response Team? By Louise Vella The Malta Independent March 19, 2006 http://217.145.4.56/ind/news.asp?newsitemid=29941 During the course of an interview aired recently on Xarabank, Judge Caruana Colombo stated that from 1999 to date, no less than 85 cases of sexual abuse were investigated by the Curia's Response Team he heads. He also said that he passes on the results of his inquiries to the archbishop who then decides what to do next. Even though, strictly speaking, this does not fall within his brief, has the learned judge ever wondered whether our archbishop followed up those cases where the evidence indicated that the alleged abuse had in fact taken place? Has he never asked himself whether the archbishop might be more concerned about safeguarding the reputation of the local Church, rather than protecting his flock's most vulnerable members? Is it possible that he never heard how Catholic churches all over the globe sought to stem the tide by adopting a policy of transferring child-molesting priests from one parish to another thereby exposing a greater number of children to the risk of being abused? Has he never suspected that the local Church authorities were following the same practice as well? Did it never occur to him that his services were perhaps being abused and exploited by the church authorities to support their avowed conspiracy of silence? When all is said and done, how can it be that his doubtlessly fine-tuned conscience ever really let him be? The fact is that the outcome of the numerous inquiries conducted by Judge Caruana Colombo is known only to him, and the archbishop. These results are then suppressed and buried forever in the hallowed Secret Archives of the Curia. Nobody knows who these dangerous paedophile priests are, how many children they have harmed, or what other incriminating evidence the Church might be keeping under wraps. What happened and is still happening in Malta is an exact replica of what happened in Catholic dioceses elsewhere. Only God knows how many crimes related to clerical child abuse have gone unpunished! The Bishops have known for long that some local priests were sexually attracted to children and, more specifically, were aware of the sexual abuse of minors by some local priests. In recent years, the diocese conspired to conceal these instances of sexual abuse by employing an ingenious close-ended and secret system of internal reporting. Thanks to this patented mechanism, the diocese can still persist in shielding these evildoers and, by default, preventing justice from taking its due course. This is doubtlessly being done to protect the standing of the diocese and its priests and, incidentally, so that Malta can retain its coveted top ranking in the Catholic Church's premier division and we can continue living up to our reputation of being more Catholic than the Pope. It should be pretty obvious by now that it is futile for victims, or their guardians, to report cases of child-abuse to the Curia, as the relevant evidence will never see the light of day. The Response Team was set up to act primarily as a sort of smokescreen. It was never meant to ensure that perpetrators were nabbed in good time and brought to justice – far from it! The morbid investigative sessions are simply intended to enable one to let off steam by giving vent to one's hurt feelings. Otherwise, they are akin to a cry in the wilderness. Anybody harbouring well-founded suspicions of child abuse would therefore be well-advised to bypass the Response Team and refer matters directly to the competent Police Authorities. Mgr Mario Grech, Gozo's new Bishop, served as a member of the Response Team up to only a few weeks ago. He must have witnessed at very close quarters the great pain inflicted on victims of sexual abuse by these evil priests when he heard the shameful evidence disclosed inside the sacrosanct precincts of the Curia. He must also be aware that these criminals typically have contact with, and target, multiple victims. Our only hope is that he will not emulate the example of his predecessors by continuing to conceal the scandal. He should have realised by now that by knowingly allowing evil conduct to evade justice the Catholic Church has been co-operating with evil. It follows that if the Catholic Church wants to set a good example and enhance its reputation it should instead be doing its utmost to co-operate with the civil authorities and thus safeguard the innocent from being mauled by these predators. Time to beg forgiveness For many victims of these horrific sex crimes, each day is a struggle and their road to recovery is a long and difficult journey! It is time for our bishops to divulge the whole truth, and to implore the community's forgiveness. The community will forgive, even if it might not find it easy to forget. But justice must be done, and be seen to be done. Only then will people's trust in the integrity of their church leaders be reinstated.
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