Breaking news: The Pope has defrocked Charles Pulis
Published:
August 2, 2011 at 11:45pm
L to R - Charles Pulis, Giannella Caruana Curran, a police officer, Godwin Scerri
Pope Benedict has defrocked Charles Pulis. The papal decree, which is on its way to Malta, is dated before today’s court judgement.
This means that Pulis would have been defrocked whatever the outcome of the court case, because the Pope had absolute faith in the veracity of what Pulis’s victims told him when they met him in Malta last year.
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Good!
That’s very good news. And the Scerris? Have they been given holy protection of some sort?
It seems that the Pope has embargoed the news diligently. Had he released it before the court sentence, Saviour Balzan would have rushed to publish it in Malta Today.
[Daphne – And the lawyers would have denounced it as undue influence.]
And the lawyers would have denounced it as undue influence.
Yeah, you are right, there. Is this a risk in the appeal process?
The sexual abuse committed in the children’s home is horrific and is to be condemned.
In such circunmstances one should not forget the sterling work many priests and other religious carry out in practically all social fields (as in education, care for the elderly, counselling and missionary work) even though some of these same religious may have also committed abuse.
I am reliably informed that Charles Pulis worked hard for the welfare of the children in the children’s home.
[Daphne – Oh marelli, this is just unbelievable. And again, it’s not a coincidence that you, like David Gatt, usually only ever pop in here to pick bones in defence of Labour. This is not to say that all cheerleaders for Joseph Muscat think as you do, not at all, but it kind of gives weight to my theory that to think Muscat is worth voting you, you must have very poor analytical skills indeed. ‘Charles Pulis forced himself on young boys in his care but that’s OK because he wrked hard for their welfare’. What sort of cracked and crackpot reasoning is that? I blame the parents.]
U hallina trid – allura xix jinhafrulu dnubietu!
‘I am reliably informed that Charles Pulis worked hard for the welfare of the children in the children’s home.’
Mur iddobba qargha, David. Nahseb l-argument tieghek ha jwennes lil min abbuza minnhom
David, trust me, seek help.
Comments like this leave me literally speechless.
Politics and bones have nothing to do with my comment. You can contest my facts or my reasoning. The rest is empty words.
People who work hard for the welfare of the children in their care do not rape them, abuse them, rob them of their innocence and submit them to life-long scarring – be it emotional, physical or mental.
Nothing excuses the actions of abhorrent people like Carmelo (Charles) Pulis and Francesco (Godwin) Scerri.
THIS Pope is great.
He was the greater one when there was the duo. Now that the duo has been dissolved by death, his real greatness is coming to the fore.
He might not be media savvy, but he is not green as to the ways of the world.
This man is as innocent as a dove and as shrewd as a serpent.
I am impressed.
You seem like an accomplished popespotter, Min Weber. I didn’t know Benny formed part of a duo. Any tracks that we know of? I’m all popestruck, look at me now….
Don’t you have any dishes that need washing?
It seems that’s the comment that cheeses you off most, La Redoute. Very revealing, don’t you think?
Daphne, maltatoday.com.mt has changed an article headline to the following: ‘The defrocking of the sex offender priests by the Pope is revealed in MaltaToday wednesday edition’, after you broke the news. Previously, the headline did not specify what will be revealed in the Wednesday edition.
I think Maltatoday did have the news but kept it under wraps with a view to sell some papers tomorrow. The relative online news item changed from ‘exclusive news to be published tomorrow’ to ‘defrocking of priests to be revealed tomorrow’ (the latter being an oxymoron in my view).
You must have pulled their carpet, and they will love you even more than they already do for it.
This morning I posted a comment on maltatoday.com and said that the news wasn’t exclusive because I had read it on Daphne’s blog first, last night.
Within an hour the comment was removed.
Justice has been done. Chapter should be closed.
Society once had the religious morals to teach immaculately, now it has the media to guide it towards a chaste and higher level of being.
God really exists after all! I feel relieved at this news.
[Daphne – Some might argue that if God could find a solution then he would have made sure the problem never happened in the first place.]
Two people leaving Mater Dei hospital:
The first person, whose wife has just pulled through a touch-and-go operation to cure a life threatening condition, prays and thanks God.
The second person, whose wife has just died during a similar surgical intervention, blames the surgeon and medical staff……..oh the irony.
Indeed – it’s the mystery of suffering, in this created by another human being. I struggle to come to terms with it too not only in my daily life but every time I come across suffering in other people. Diseases, victims of crime, you name it. If God really existed, why do these things happen, an agnostic would (quite justly) argue?
Still, it’s one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith. For me, it’s even greater than the Trinity or the immaculate conception.
No explanation – but that’s why it is a mystery of faith. Had it been plain and scientific it would be no mystery and would certainly require no faith.
I know it’s quite out of order here – so I apologise if I was derailed from the original blog post.
No big problem here – live decently with the skills inherited at birth, live within the boundaries of upbringing, look for the truth and when the lights go out, if there is an ever-after, enjoy .
Now I feel this should not become another “Ricotta” debate. Let’s leave it at what the courts have said without entering into heated and unwanted attacks on our beloved Church.
Well “red nose’ your beloved church is hiding more sexual abusers from justice by keeping secret files of its own investigations. Do you still love the church enough to entrust your kids to an institution that cares more for its reputation than it does about bringing criminals to justice?
That’s a refreshing change, considering Ratzinger’s history on his treatment of paedophile cases.
Daphne, you beat the news portals with this news.
@ Kenneth Cassar – not exactly a fair comment about Pope Benedict. He is trying to clean up the mess which Pope John Paul II ‘conveniently” chose to ignore for the duration of his papacy. And please no comments like ‘he did not know what was going on’.
In my view, the cover-up is an even greater scandal than the actual abuse.
The abuse, the world over, happened under John Paul II’s watch, and he is already beatified on the way to sainthood – sick.
@ david s:
Actually, its a very fair comment, since I did say its a refreshing change, which means a positive improvement.
And please note that I used the name Ratzinger intentionally. You should read this: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7093936.ece
Yes, I agree with you that the cover-up is worse than the actual abuse, but unlike you, apparently, I know that Cardinal Ratzinger was directly implicated in the cover-up.
Hence my “refreshing change” comment.
For heaven’s sake leave the Catholic Church alone. If you hate the church, do not vent your hatred on the institution. Individuals are resposible for their actions.
Would you take it out on the CEO of a large company operating child care centres if the employees were accused of abuse and the company tried to systematically cover it up? Would you blame the organisation as a whole?
I certainly would. The Catholic Church is no different in my eyes.
@ red nose
It’s the institution that is/was responsible for coverups. If that is OK in your book…..
And also for failing to take action when necessary.
Individuals are responsible for the actions. Fine. But it is the Curia that is responsible to help bring these people to justice, and by that, I don’t mean covering up their actions by shifting them from parish to parish. They should simply be reported to the police.
The Catholic Church – in this case the Curia – has a lot to answer to, including why it placed Godwin Scerri in a children’s home after he escaped from Canada on being accused of similar child-abuse cases.
Oh, and the Curia should also issue a statement sayiing whether or not the legal fees of Pulis and Scerri are being funded by the church coffers. People have a right to know.
You broke the news last night and these twits are still claiming they’ve got the exclusive:
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/the-defrocking-of-pulis-the-pope-is-revealed-in-maltatoday-wednesday-edition
I am no fan of this pope or the other pope, however I am sure that these victims would never have seen justice done had it not been for the meeting they had with him when he was in Malta.
The church in Malta is a real mess and all they have been doing is sweeping these heinous crimes under the carpet when the law specifically states that all known crimes are to be reported to the police.
@ gel
Let’s not just blame the Catholic Church. This is institutionalised ‘omerta’.
Most if not all our constituted ‘bodies’ fall silent when and where the Church is involved. The Executive Admin, the Curia, the Judiciary, the Presidency, the Police etc. knew what is/was going on and yet not a peep….anzi in some cases it was actually swept uder the carpet. I do not want to generalise but if we want to establish blame we have to be honest, at least with ourselves.
@ gel
This was NOT a Catholic Church cover-up in Malta. The cover-up was everywhere, from the USA to Malta to Ireland to Australia.
Yes, these heinous crimes were swept under the carpet, as it was Vatican policy not to report to the police, not to defrock, but to move paedophile priests to another parish, and as “extreme punishment” sent as missionaries to Brazil.
The extreme punishment in that case would be meted out to the young people they’d be working with in Brazil or wherever.
What are the actual implications of defrocking? I can’t help thinking that they are also being given some kind of freedom by being ‘set free’ as it were, or relieved of their duties within the church.
Something is bothering me about this, but I can’t put my finger on it.
[Daphne – You HAVE put your finger on it. As non-priests, they will be unmonitored and can ‘disappear’ into society. But then again, as non-priests, they will not be in a position of such great trust.]
I suppose it’s meant to be humiliating, but five years down the line these men will walk out of prison – free from all commitments (theoretically at least).
@ David : “I am reliably informed that Charles Pulis worked hard for the welfare of the children in the children’s home”. This is pure nonsense.
I believe that he took his role within the children’s home in order to have access to boys, and even the other two priests did the same. Not only that, but the three of them worked in tandem and collectively in this abuse. They for sure knew what each of them was up to.
How come they never reported any abuse or inappropriate behaviour to their superiors but a care worker had to do so?
Do you mean report themselves to their superiors?
@Kenneth Cassar, I meant that Father A did not report Father B or C, but they supported each other in their misdeeds. If one of them was truly innocent he would have surely noticed the abuse and reported.
@ davidg:
Same thing. Would a criminal A report criminal B, knowing that once arrested, criminal B would spill the beans on criminal A? I don’t think so.