Perhaps the Bishop of Gozo would now like to comment
A pederast posing as a priest: that's a wolf in sheep's clothing
The Bishop of Gozo made negative headlines when, during a fire-and-brimstone sermon straight from another century, he called those religious people who campaigned for the separation of church and state in the form of divorce legislation “wolves in sheep’s clothing”.
Now we know who the wolves in sheep’s clothing really are: pederasts who use their priestly guise to win the care and confidence of adolescent boys, all the better – to use the terminology of another wolf, this one wearing the clothes of the grandmother he’s eaten – to eat them with.
People like Mario Grech, who are so busy sticking to the letter of Catholic law that they ignore its Christian spirit, need to get their priorities sorted out and fast.
96 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110805/world/Poland-must-probe-priest-sex-abuse.378854
“However, the order also shouldered the financial cost of the top criminal lawyers, Giannella Caruana Curran and Joe Giglio, who defended the priests.” http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110808/local/No-Church-policy-on-compensation.379221
It’s nice to know that any donations made to Dar San Guzepp in goodwill by people like myself may instead been channelled to defence lawyers in this disgusting case. I’ll definitely think twice before giving any MONEY to such charities.
And what about this one:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110805/local/Convicted-priest-was-absolved-in-2003.378874
I’m dying to know who were the people on that Response Team at the time since it seems that Bishop Mario Grech was a member of that response team for some time.
Ironically, it is the Protestants who insist on interpreting the letter of the law while ignoring the tradition.
That “fire-and-brimstone” sermon referred to, was delivered by a Gozitan priest to a Gozitan audience in the sort of langauge that only Gozitans understand.
Monsignor Grech, like Monsignor Cremona (and His Holiness the Pope) have ended up carrying the can for the problems that were swept under the carpet for decades by their predecessors.
The difficulty, as I see it is that the bishops cannot really get far, not as long as they keep depending on the Curia hangers-on and “advisors” they inherited from previous administrations.
Then they should stand up and be counted. That takes guts and backbone. I do not know of any Catholic Bishop whistle-blower yet .
Maybe that depends on what or whose ‘whistle’ they are blowing.
Nothing would surprise me, given the news of ex-priests Pulis and Scerri this week – not to mention that of the Gozitan Fr Mercieca.
That’s because you only know of 2 Catholic bishops – one of which is actually an Archbishop.
[Daphne – One of whom. Which is for inanimate objects, plants and animals.]
That “fire-and-brimstone” sermon referred to, was delivered by a Gozitan priest to a Gozitan audience in the sort of langauge that only Gozitans understand.”
Am I the only one to find that comment not a little patronising?
And I certainly don’t buy the story that “Monsignor Grech, like Monsignor Cremona (and His Holiness the Pope) have ended up carrying the can for the problems that were swept under the carpet for decades by their predecessors. ”
Far from it, because in some cases they were the ones doing the sweeping, or at the very least they must have known there was sweeping going on (see my link below).
“Am I the only one to find that comment not a little patronising?”
But consider the facts. The Gozitans are the Maltese writ large. They take everything that is Maltese to the next level: insularity, hamallagni, puppagni, dialects, extended families, fottimenti, fleecing off the gullible tourist, the Ricotta Complex, the centre-of-the-universe syndrome…..
[Daphne – One of whom. Which is for inanimate objects, plants and animals.]
*blush*blush* you’re right.
[Daphne – Have you noticed just how many people are now saying and writing ‘that’ instead of ‘who’? The person that, the people that, the woman that…where do you think they get it?]
It’s the grammar checker on MS word. It’s always suggesting that “which” or “who” be changed for “that”.
[Daphne – Switch to British English, because that’s US English.]
People talk about this elusive Christian spirit, as if being a good person depends on being possessed of this spirit. In all the history of Christianity, the “Christian spirit” has been the cause of such anguish, repression, torture and wars.
I think we should be ignoring Christianity and any other religious denomination, in favour of the humility inherent in atheism and humanism.
Listen, they pick on orphans and kids whose parents have abandoned them.
If they pick on our kids then I don’t know about you but I would sort them out myself.
If you do that and get caught the law will come down on you like a tonne of bricks. Vigilantes are a no-no.
Don’t be too sure that they pick on kids who are orphans or whose parents have abandoned them.
There are probably many cases of sexual abuse by priests in schools, doctrine classes and in the sacristy. Teaching doctrine in Malta is the equivalent of what the boy scouts used to be in Britain: a way for perverts and molesters to get into a position of trust where children are alone in their care.
Many chose to ignore what it going on, others took it for granted, whilst others (the Curia’s Response Team included) rmay prefer to sweep the information under the carpet to protect the good name they THINK they have.
That is the worst part, in fact; there are, and can never be any 2nd class kids, people who select a group because they are less ‘valuable’ are committing an odious reaffirmation of a concept that is contrary to the most basic Christian belief: that they are priests reflects a problem that seems to require a basic redefinition of what the church stands for if it aspires to remain relevant. A dominant church, thankfully,is a thing of the past.
Just caught the tail end of that pompous fool Mario Tabone Vassallo’s weekly sermon. Apparently all of us are to blame ‘ghax ilkoll ahwa Maltin’. He also apologised, ‘ghax Malti’. Profoundly stupid and irritating man.
Excuse my ignorance, but who is Mario Tabone Vassallo?
Could he be the holder of the MTV logo? They used to have a good programme on that channel called Jackass and somehow he reminds me of it.
Used to be very pro-PN but has done a Cyrus Engerer.
Agreed.
Wasn’t it Joe Mifsud (ex super one hack, turned criminal lawyer) who said that he keeps cuttings of all the sermons of the Gozo Bishop? He admires him so much.
I have writen elsewhere in this blog that I sometimes have half a mind to vote Labour in the next election, It is the face of Joe Mifsud while saying things like that whch scare me away.
Half a mind to vote Labour? You’re over qualified mate! It usually only needs a quarter.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing indeed, Isqof Grech! Other than to a few dozen people who have never ventured any further than their doorstep in Nadur, few take any notice of what he says. He must be the reincarnated version of some Bishop who lived in Shakespeare’s time.
Oh, and ten points to the Church response team too for absolving Charles Pulis and telling him to “continue taking care of the children like an honest parent”.
2011 will go down in history as one heck of a memorable one for the Curia….for all the wrong reasons. Great job guys, at this rate, we’re going to need St.Paul getting shipwrecked again to restore the faith!
Bishop Grech was (is?) on the response team.
It is clear that the biggest and most dangerous aspect of all this is the huge cover-up that there has been over the years.
A lot of people involved in the Catholic Church (and not) knew about this and other instances, and no one lifted a finger. If we want to retain any semblance of a civilised nation, the police need to launch a full investigation into what happened, and who covered up for whom, in a similar fashion to those held in Belgium, and I believe in Ireland. What a nation of bigots.
Most probably they did not know that Pulis was sexually abusing an adolescent in 2003, and was absolved of allegations back then and returned at St. Joseph House to make a good parent as the Church’s response team described it.
Or else Malta is so small, that it’s not worth featuring it in Blaine’s reportage. Have you read the judgement? It is disgusting. I think you should upload a PDF of it, for those who do not know how to search on the internet for it.
Throughout this abuse saga I have had an uneasy feeling that I could not express, mainly for fear of being misunderstood, but I have now decided to give it a go.
I must make it clear that I condemn child abuse and that Pulis and Scerri deserve the punishment meted out by our courts.
The thing that bothers me is this, I just cannot accept that boys aged 13-16 are sexually innocent and that they were not conscious and aware of what the two ex-priests were doing to them or asking them to do.
I remember myself at that age and as I happen to have attended a school in which one of the guilty ex-priests was a teacher I could not but think back to those times. First of all in my 5 years there I never experienced or heard of any abuse, and all I got was a top class education.
However I do recall there were rumours of some boys having “fun” with other boys, and of boys being frowned upon for being too close to some priests. I do understand that this happens in many places where women are excluded and you have boys at an age where they are discovering their sexuality.
[Daphne – Put it this way, Peter. If you knew of a situation where men in positions of care and authority over 13-year-old girls were having sex with them, would you say that they asked for it or that they must have known what they were doing? THAT ISN’T THE POINT. What this is all about is the process of corruption and violation. And something else: it is only the weaker ones who are selected and groomed, the vulnerable ones. Hundreds of boys went through the home, but the only a few were chosen precisely because they were the most vulnerable of all.]
I stress that all this was rumour. However I am very confident that if anyone ever made and sexual advances towards me or any my friends at that age and in those circumstances, we would certainly not have kept quiet about it. We would have refuse those advance (probably not without a degree of violence) and would reported the matter immediately.
[Daphne – That’s why nobody made advances to you, Peter. This is exactly the same thing as with bullying and violent men who home in on the sort of woman who will not fight back or tell them to go to hell.]
In view of this I cannot exclude completely from my mind the possibility that these boys, to some extent or other, were parties to the sexual advances, perhaps because of some obscure psychological reasons. Let me stress one again that I fully accept that what happened was abuse, as they were still in a vulnerable state.
However, we have to accept that these were not unknowing pre-pubescent children. My other uneasy feeling is this, why did they have to wait until they were well into their adulthood to expose the abuse, and did so in a highly publicised TV programme?
If they had been so shocked at the time how come none of them shouted out about at the first opportunity, or else as soon as they left the home at 18. I accept that I don’t know all the facts and perhaps someone can enlighten me, but all the above has put doubts into my mind. I repeat, what the ex-priests remains was wrong and they deserve to be punished, but I cannot accept the victims were completely blameless and that they may have other motivations for them seeking retribution. I am sure that this post will attract some comments, probably derogatory ones, but I don’t mind.
You are arguing that adults having sex with children is OK, when it isn’t.
People like you only strengthen the idea that the Roman Catholic church is just a ‘Men for boys’ club using religion as a front. Many cults do this – they make you do perverted things in return for salvation.
This is exactly the same thing as with bullying and violent men who home in on the sort of woman who will not fight back or tell them to go to hell.
You are perfectly right, Daphne. But dangerous serial bullies will not hesitate to abuse that smart boy (like my child) who will not keep his mouth shut about what goes on in the classroom.
It’s completely normal for abuse victims to try and put their torment behind them and move on. That’s why these victims didn’t speak up at the age of 18 – they wanted it to be over and done with.
Lawrence Grech only decided to take these priests to court because he realized that there were boys still being abused long after he and his friends had left.
They went through the hell of having to recount and relive the abuse they had suffered just to make sure other children won’t be assaulted by these evil beings. No one would testify in court over something that filled them with such desperate shame and guilt for the mere sake of financial compensation or petty vengeance.
I think it was Lawrence Grech himself who once said how, during one of his father’s visits he was dying to tell him everything but didn’t dare to for fear his dad might think he was gay and disown him completely. That’s how scared they were so please stop taking everything at face value.
I’m sure these victims have been (wrongly) blaming themselves long enough, they don’t need anyone to go on doing it for them.
“In view of this I cannot exclude completely from my mind the possibility that these boys, to some extent or other, were parties to the sexual advances, perhaps because of some In view of this I cannot exclude completely from my mind the possibility that these boys, to some extent or other, were parties to the sexual advances, perhaps because of some obscure psychological reasons.”
Even if the boys gave their consent, those in a position of authority should not have engaged in such relationships with persons under their care. No, they can never be excused. Boys of fourteen can never be mature enough to carry the blame.
You mention obscure psychological reasons. You don’t have to go that far. Financially and emotionally deprived boys would have done it even for small gifts of money. The fact remains that those who were supposed to prevent this from happening, committed the crime themselves.
At 16 the mind is not fully developed, and not everybody reacts the same to shocking events. There are adults who are picked on at work and they cannot handle the perpetrators whilst others look on. Just thank your lucky stars that you were considered too tough to mess with because I certainly am thanking my lucky star .
“The thing that bothers me is this, I just cannot accept that boys aged 13-16 are sexually innocent and that they were not conscious and aware of what the two ex-priests were doing to them or asking them to do. ”
Oh, come off it, you fool!
Even if the boys themselves approached the priests in an indecent way, then the priest should have put a stop to it themselves.
It is probably worse than a parent abusing a child in that way, bearing in mind that these children came from who-knows-what kind of troubled background in the first place.
If you are approached by a hormone-fuelled 13-year-old, does your having sex with him/her justify your actions?
“I stress that all this was rumour. However I am very confident that if anyone ever made and sexual advances towards me or any my friends at that age and in those circumstances, we would certainly not have kept quiet about it. We would have refuse those advance (probably not without a degree of violence) and would reported the matter immediately.”
Don’t be so sure about that. I remember rumours about the sportsmaster (a ‘brother’) at a boys’ school. He used to wander into the changing-rooms, armed with shaving foam, while the schoolboys were getting dressed. They used to joke about how perverted he was, yet he stayed at the school until his death.
I don’t believe anyone ever reported him.
So, Peter, you say that if they were really innocent they would have reported the matter immediately.
Listen, little children, to what I have to say.
When a girl in an Irish institution/convent was messed around with by the visiting priest, she reported the matter immediately to the nuns. Mother superior went berserk. The girl was made to wash her filthy fibbing mouth out with soap and water, and then to go to confession and ask forgiveness for her lies TO THE VERY SAME PRIEST she was abused by.
Things aren’t so easy when you are in a vulnerable position, have nowhere else to turn to, and have to deal with scum in priests/nuns clothing.
Divorced and remarried people can go to church yet are not allowed to receive communion. The two priests found guilty will be able to confess and receive communion. Now somebody please enlighten me about church reasoning (without using the excuse that the remarried are living in sin).
[Daphne – People who have remarried after divorce are in a constant state of sin, so it pointless confessing. There is no confusion at all.]
Daphne, I know. The logic on the church’s part is flawed because the damage that these two men (and others) have done does not end with them being given due punishment.
Their sin goes on diabolically warping the lives of those subjected to their lurid pastimes, yet they can receive communion. This is confused ethics with no basis of logic and discriminatory in favour of the evil.
[Daphne – It is your logic that is flawed. You are confusing the sin with the result of the sin. Those who are in a state of sin can repent, confess, be absolved, do penance and start anew, something that is not possible when you are living with somebody who is not your spouse, unless you leave them, possibly leading to fresh sins that include the abandonment of more children. The results of sins are always permanent and ongoing and with your reasoning, nobody could ever repent and be forgiven and confession would be pointless. Are you saying that no murderer, however truly repentant, can ever be forgiven because the suffering caused by his crime goes on indefinitely?]
I could respect a repentant person if only they went out of their way to do good with the rest of their lives.
My argument is over the way the church came down very heavy on the divorce issue and the foot-dragging that has taken place on on this horrible episode. It is as if the church cannot recognise the true evil existing within her structure that thwarts effort to bring such horrible deeds to light.
This guy is a perfect representative of an archaic institution that protects their sick, manipulative boy chasers. A no hoper.
Sorry off subject. I appeal to Minister Austin Gatt and his staff at Transport Malta to either get the mess they created in public transport on the right track soon or resign en masse and allow others to do the job.
I don’t want to think about the chaos which will be created once school starts again if this inefficient service does not get on track by then. Sorry Austin but you effed up big time in this one.
The Bishop of Gozo should now embark on a wide-ranging, skeleton-clearing operation of all his diocese’s cupboards.
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
Bishop Grech had better get his act together and do something now that the Catholic Church has finally decided to wake up.
It is a shame that his power-hungry predecessors did nothing about a situation of which they must have been aware. Their dishonesty and Catholic teachings kept them living in denial.
Yup! to the Catholic Church. I read the horrific details on the matter in question. Been all nauseous since.
Shocking indeed: http://documentarystorm.com/deliver-us-from-evil/
I just finished watching the film, and I am left speechless the feeling of anger disgust and then more anger.
The youngest victim was 9 months old and the church knew of his actions but repeatedly left him with young kids. If he wasn’t a priest he would be labelled a child sex offender but because of the priesthod he was just a priest with issues.
The Bishop of Gozo has nothing to do with this shame. These hebephiles could have easily found their way in a boys’ school and did the same thing with relish. And no one in his right mind would have blamed the principal or the headmaster for their craziness.
[Daphne – Do you mean the sort of boys’ schools run by priests?]
My child was not abused by a priest in a school. But, believe it or not, by a woman. He was just seven years old when it happened. Her sort are called female sex offenders.
And we are deadly wrong when we call them paedophiles; there are numerous paedophiles (child-lovers) out there who do not harm children in any way. Anyway, this is not the whole story. The same child was abused again for one year by a dangerous serial bully, this time a teacher in a primary school. I am under psychiatric care thanks to these ladies.
In olden times, there was a more just way of resolving the matter. But now it’s considered old-fashioned.
Bashing their respective heads would have taught them a couple of lessons.
The State is failing us in this respect. When we delegate justice to the State, we are damaging ourselves.
In the case of Mr Scicluna, he is under psychiatric care because his honour has been smashed to pieces. No amount of pills or analysis will ever cure you. Only bashing their heads (literally, that is) will do the job, Mr Scicluna
Thanks to all these ladies, or thanks to your son’s possible eventual behaviour as a result of his (mis)treatment by them?
Did you report them to the police? And if yes, what happened next?
Hogwash! These men got away with so much for so long because they actually ran the place. Yes, I would blame the headmaster or principal if such atrocities happened for such a long time under his watch. We are not talking about isolated incidents here.
What about Fr. Silvio Bezzina, then?
According to this http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110805/local/Convicted-priest-was-absolved-in-2003.378874 , Fr. Bezzina was fully aware of at least one case of abuse by Charles Pulis.
Despite the fact ex-Fr. Pulis was absolved by the Curia and sent back to St. Joseph Home to “take care of the boys like a good parent (or something to that effect) does not mean that Bezzina should have accepted him back into the fold.
He should either have resigned from his position or taken it to the Vatican. To hell with bureaucracy and the Curia. These boys need more protection than the Curia’s name does.
So many people who should have known better have a lot to answer for when they meet their maker.
Fr. Silvio Bezzina is now the Rector of the MSSP College in Rabat. From this year, that College will have a primary school.
Here we go, throwing mud at anyone who is involved.
From what I read Fr Bezzina did everything he could. He was the one who reported this whole thing to the Curia. Obeying his superiors is one of his votes when he joined MSSP.
Not taking the right decisions in difficult circumstances is one thing, but implying that Fr Bezzina should not be trusted with primary school kids is highly unfair.
The church went astray ( to put it mildly ) when she swept the episodes under the proverbial carpet .
Show diocesan and religious priests respect as well. Show them great respect. Be close to
them. Indeed, my children, do not slander them. Do not capriciously throw mud at them.
Pray much for them and pray for the Church and for your Bishops.
(Our Lady of Borg in-Nadur – 03/08/2011)
They most certainly seem to be in desperate need of plenty of the latter.
Where you there? Did you hear her?
Sell it to the marines.
Someone at Borg in-Nadur has a statement for everything in the news. Stop making a mockery of your own religion and go back to basics. All this talk of the supernatural is simply making Catholicism a religion of the past when money bought redemption from Purgatory and relics kept at bay natural disasters and disease.
“Our ladÿ” seems quite good at commenting on past events, but apparently no good at predicting any.
Our Lady always says the truth. She is the Mother of God and not a fortune-teller. She loves us deeply. And, to be honest, I prefer her silence mit-tpacpic tan-nies.
Careful of the lady as she appears out of nowhere. I almost ran her over last night on my way home.
@ Carmel Scicluna:
I have no problem with “our lady”, since I don’t believe she exists. I do have a problem with charlatans and frauds who claim she speaks to them.
The members of the church response team have a hell of a weight on their conscience.
And please let us not forget this smoking gun:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/world/europe/21briefs-ireland.html.
Whilst many of the faithful (and the Vatican I may add)expressed shock and dismay at the Irish PM’s attack on the Vatican, many did not look carefuly at what the accusation was:
“Ireland’s lawmakers on Wednesday accused the Vatican of encouraging Roman Catholic bishops not to tell the police about priests who were suspected of being pedophiles and of flouting Irish law. *
Herein lies the real problem: not only is there no concept of separation of church and state, in the Church’s eyes (and here we are really talking about the Vatican) it actually fundamentally believes it should be above the state – an attitude we have seen and touched too often in this island and even more so in poor little Gozo.
In Gozo, frocks are made from 100% Pure Lambswool.
Though I know what you must be referring to, I feel that THIS should be given wider coverage:
“Just weeks before being charged in court with sexually abusing boys under his care, Charles Pulis had been absolved by the Church Response Team and told to “continue taking care of the children like an honest parent”.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110805/local/Convicted-priest-was-absolved-in-2003.378874
You have to compare like with like, Malcolm. Don’t be led by the nose.
I’m not defending child abusers here, but you have to see whether the same witnesses and victims stood on the witness stand in front of the Church’s Response team, and recounted the same stories.
I was disgusted at the way one of the victims, Mr Lawrence Grech, on One TV attacked the consultant psychiatrist Dr Joe Cassar who took the witness stand in this case.
Mr Grech, and One TV, politicised the whole thing by referring to Dr Cassar as “the Minister”, and that the minister spoke too much in favour of the accused.
Dr Cassar was not even an MP when he took on Charles Pulis as a psychiatric patient in 2003, let alone a minister.
This is unethical pressure on a person who took the witness stand.
The last I saw something similar was when a crowd of people ‘demonstrated’ in front of an old lady’s house in Valletta who took the witness stand in the trial on the murder of businessman Bonnici, after Giannella’s client was found ‘not guilty’ by the jury.
According to the verdict, (Pgs 64-65) it is clear that the witness repeated the report sent to the Curia’s Response Team. So it’s either that the testimony given here is false, or else, the Curia’s response team acted very irresponsibly.
I thought there was more than one witness in this trial.
The courts don’t rely on one witness.
Could it be that you’re jumping to conclusions?
No, I’m not jumping to conclusions. Based on this witness I refered to, the court concluded:
“In circumstances where Carmelo Pulis allows minors in his room at about 11.45 p.m., while wearing a vest and boxer shorts, with a boy lying down on him and ending up with an erection while saying that he never had homosexual tendencies and was allergic to homosexuals, to say the least, is contradictory.”
The circumstances referred to are what was reported to the Curia’s Response Team.
In that case it’s the court that’s jumping to conclusions not me. but I’m sure the court is not jumping to conclusions.
No, John. The court reached some of its conclusions through this witness. One of the conclusions was that:
“In circumstances where Carmelo Pulis allows minors in his room at about 11.45 p.m., while wearing a vest and boxer shorts, with a boy lying down on him and ending up with an erection while saying that he never had homosexual tendencies and was allergic to homosexuals, to say the least, is contradictory.”
So no we’re not jumping to conclusions here as the court confirmed this through its verdict.
Fr John Avelino on Il-Gens Illum, today said the following:
“Ċerti dettalji li ħarġu waqt il-proċess tal-Qorti dwar ir-Response Team tal-Kurja għandhom jgħinu biex il-Knisja b’ċerta urġenza teżamina bir-reqqa l-mod kif qed jaħdem dan it-Team u tagħmel it-tibdiliet meħtieġa biex dan ikun aktar effiċjenti u jagħti riżultati f’inqas ħin. Mingħajr ma nidhru li qed ngħaddu ġudizzju fuq l-operat ta’ dan it-Team, irridu ngħidu li mhux aċċettabbli li l-affarijiet jibqgħu jsiru kif qed isiru bħalissa.”
Both seen strolling in Marsaxlokk on Friday night. I understand that after the Courts of Appeal there are other Courts to go through.
Such as?
Human rights are not ALWAYS trampled upon.
In Malta there is no Court of Cassation.
And since we are no longer a colony, there is no access to the Privy Council, either.
Unfortunately the Gozo bishop in no exception.
On Good Friday 2010 the Patriarch of Venice (now in the seat of St Ambrose) delivered a memorable address to his flock on the subject of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.
One has to keep in mind that Angelo Scola is a world authority on the subjects of human sexuality and bio-medical ethics. His books are reference works.
Just two days later on Easter Sunday the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, shocked the Christian world.
In the course of his homily in St Peter’s square standing right opposite Ratzinger, Sodano had the temerity to refer to the controversy as “chiacchiericcio” – cheap gossip.
The old guard has yet to come to grips with this mega-issue.
The sooner they stop defending the indefensible and make way for the upcoming leaders of our great Church the better.
Great church – more like a great business conglomerate. Having returned to my heathen roots (we were all converted at some time) I have found inner peace .
The local Church is so obsessed about sins of the flesh – extramarital sex, masturbation, etc and yet it allowed its own priests to commit depraved acts on minors under their care in one minute, and a minute later sacriligeously say Mass for the faithful. Did these hear confessions as well?
Does anybody have a llnk to a younger looking Fr Godwin Scerri? Is he the same one who spent some time at the Birkirkara Oratory 26 years ago?
This is a photo of him taken after the court hearing.
http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2011/08/padres-malteses-sao-condenados-por-abusar-de-orfaos-3-decadas-atras.html
May-Day report reaching Lilliput from the Twilight Zone: http://youtu.be/UoKUT8ebR_s
Intel Hub report: http://theintelhub.com/2011/08/02/multiple-military-train-convoys-filmed-in-oregon-as-domestic-troop-movements-continue-to-skyrocket-amid-super-congress-tyranny/
Glossary: FEMA – Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security.
And remember, you read it here first – on the Bishop of Gozo post.
You know, Kev, some people actually do believe that child welfare where they live is more important than conspiracy theories about the Great Satan that fascinate bored husbands in Brussels suburbs.
The two (former) priests’ acts were reprehensible, but pointing fingers at bishops is futile and unfair.
Let’s keep the church out of it for a moment and suppose it concerned the civil service or contractors hired by the government.
A career civil servant is caught receiving a bribe. He/she is duly processed and found guilty and fined or jailed. During the whole process calls for the minister’s resignation are numerous and loud. Some even call for the PM to resign and call an early election.
A contractor hired by the government delivers an inferior product and tries to bribe a government official in order to get a ‘pass’ for the product. The same scenario ensues.
Now, for one moment, can one really believe that it is government’s policy to allow such wrongdoings to continue thus exposing itself to the ire of the voters, let alone the Opposition?
There simply is no ‘Church’ policy which condones these unfortunate goings-on and while it could be argued that in the past a lot was swept under the carpet, today there are specific instructions from the Vatican directing Bishops to report such cases to civil authorities.
Predecessors of today’s bishops unwisely chose cover-ups in order to avoid ‘scandal’ among the faithful. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, the result is the exact opposite and the consequences to the church, is damaging to say the least.
In Malta, these events are quite rare but in other countries where one could hide much easier than in tiny Malta, such crimes are more widespread and many a diocese went bankrupt and actual church buildings had to close down and sold in order to raise funds to pay for court ordered compensation to victims.
Priests are human beings subject to temptation and human weakness and while such crimes are hideous even if committed by the ordinary man-in-the-street, it is twice as reprehensible if done by those who we trust with our children.
To the victims, we all wish that they will be able to put all this behind them, not lose faith in fellow citizens and find peace with themselves, enabling them to move forward in a positive direction.
To those who are helter-skelter against the ‘church’, think twice. Such crimes may be happening next door or by a close relative of yours. Closets seem still filled with skeletons, which, if they decide to come out, or forced out, would make the present story all but a small chapter in a multi-hundred page book.
True, but it seems the church never learns. It is only a few weeks since I received a leaflet full of lies about divorce from none other than the church.
Lesson to be learned (by the church): Honesty pays.
What really baffles me in this whole saga is, how come one of the victims allowed, years later, one of the accused to be the officiating priest at his marriage?
Isn’t strange to be still on good terms with someone who molested you?
[Daphne – Not strange at all when you consider that others continue a relationship with parents and husbands who beat them and cheat them. You form an attachment and the violater takes advantage of that. A master/slave relationship is created slowly.]
I agree that when they were still young and living in the school, they might have been afraid to reveal what was happening, but wouldn’t you be looking for the day when you grew up, to be able to knock his block off?
My thoughts exactly. I wouldn’t have let him know about my marriage, let alone asking him to officiate the wedding.
The other one was about kissing. Didn’t he ever kiss his girlfriend /wife on her lips? So why does he find it hard to kiss his little daughter on her forehead like normal fathers do?
His carer used to fondle him and kiss him on the lips, something which parents don’t do to their offspring.
[Daphne – Why doesn’t he find it hard to kiss his wife but can’t kiss his daughter? Duh, John: the relationship with his wife is sexual, and meant to be so.]
The judgement’s online here http://www.gov.mt/frame.asp?l=1&url=http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/judgements/default.aspx . It’s 02_08_2011-836_2003-69152.pdf on http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt .
I didn’t have the stomach to read through the graphic details, but the little I read made me sick. Shame on those bastards, Pulis and Scerri. Depression and an unhappy family life is no excuse for their shameful, despicable behaviour.
Bishops Grech and Cremona, you have a lot to answer for if you had any part in absolving Pulis of sexual abuse with another boy in July 2003. Get your bloody act together and stop covering up these actions in the name of the church. The well-being of children should come before all else.
A comment in The Times that says it all:
Sebastian Cassar
Today, 16:46
Jien wihedt min dawk it-tfal li kont ghamilt naf hajjti San Guzepp u pulis naf xi saraf ghax kemm domt san guzepp qerdili hajti.sa hasitra kien qali qabel ma tlaqt u kletijiem warra hareg il-kas qasli ” ma dgawdix il-post li xtrajt”,u jien ghatlu vera ma ingawdix il-post imma inti dgawdi il-hatid…issa iridt nejt il-dawk in-nies li kinu jatuh l-affarijiet ghal lina u kien izomhom ghal lih.ghax quddiem in-nies kien jamila tal-anglu u min ghajir ma tridt tithasru.imma dak kolla li taw xi haga lili jadu ahjar ma tajnih xejn ghax flok qasis kelna qasis falz.u tajjeb nadi kument lis-socjeta tal-m.s.s.p li dan ghamlu likbar hnizrija u il-prvcjal jigi jajt li warra il-habs izmom VERA MA TISTHUX IS-SOCJETA IZOMU NIES KRIMINALI U AHNA ITFAL LI AHNA IN-NOCENTI KIF GHADILNA IZ-ZMIEN KADBUNA BARRA IT-TRIEQ,tal-misthija ghal lura nigi ghal komkluzjoni biex is-socjeta ha zomom hija koplici maghom.u lina kexejtuna il-barra.Poplu maltu u ghawwci moru thom id-donzjonijiet ta’ ohloq tbisima.jien nisthi kiku nider fuq it-telvigen.nies bla kuxjenza ta’ alla.grazzi poplu malti u ghawci.
“Saturday, August 6, 2011, 21:02
Rape victim, Vatican official speak out on clerical abuse
The only boy to be raped from the 11 adolescents who were abused by priests in Sta Venera’s St Joseph Home, speaks for the first time in The Sunday Times tomorrow about how he was sexually assaulted by three priests when he was still an orphan in their care.
The youngest boy in the institute, he soon found out that heavy petting and sexual abuse to varying degrees were not unusual between boys and priests, and he got sucked into a system where there was no escape and nobody to trust.
In a separate interview, the Vatican’s sex crime chief prosecutor, Mgr Charles Scicluna, gives his frank views on the case and how it was handled”.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110806/local/rape.379051
Agreed. I wonder (well, I don’t really) how no politician commented on Holy Mary being made to cry over these matters.
Talking of priests, sacraments, confessions …
A week has passed since your article, Daphne, about the judges’ Confessor Jose’ A. Herrera and nothing has happened.
It seems that the establishment thinks it’s OK for judges to discuss their financial woes with a lawyer who appears before them to represent clients.
This is scandalous, to say the least.
Not that Dr Herrera is the repository of the judges’ preoccupations (that is probably illegal), but that the executive – the government – finds nothing to rebuke in this.
Idem for the Chamber of Advocates and Attorney General.
I have nothing to say with regard to the Leader of the Opposition whose his sense of righteousness seems highly selective.
So long as Roman Catholic priests are not allowed to get married whilst remaining in the priesthood and women are not allowed to become priests, the priesthood will carry on attracting the wrong sort of people.
Positions of power are a no-go area for women in Roman Catholicism, and it looks like it willl stay this way for the foreseeable future.
With regard to you article: “Perhaps the Bishop would like to know”, I am sending you several statements made by Bishop Mario Grech.
Dawn huma uħud mill-istqarrijiet li għamel f’dawn l-aħħar snin l-Isqof Mario Grech dwar l-abbużi seswali fuq il-minuri.
1. Note sent to the Times of Malta: re. your query Bishop Mario Grech was not a member of the response team in the 2003 case. However he was on the response team when the case was presented again. In the course of this second inquiry Bishop Grech resigned from his post on November 2005 when he was nominated Bishop (10 August 2011)
2. Mons Isqof qal lill-kappillani li jekk ikollhom xi inforamzzjoni dwar abbuz seesswali fuq minuri minn xi funzjonarju pasorali ma nistgħux nerfgħu r-responsabilta u għalhekk għandhom jistiednu lil min jagħtihom informazzjoni bħal din biex iwassluha lil Isqof u jħeġġuhom ukoll biex jinformaw lil pulizija. (Minuti laqgħa tal-Kulleġġ tal-Kappillani, (3 ta’ Awissu, 2011)
3. “Bishop Grech insists that all members of the Church, clergy and laity alike, are in duty bound to cooperate with the ecclesiastical and civil authorities investigating similar cases (of sexual abuse of minors)”. (Statement by Bisho Grech published by the Times of Malta, 4th June 2011)
4. “Kull abbuż seswali fuq il-minuri huwa ħażin u kundannabli, irrrispettivament jekk min iwettqu tkunx persuna lajka, reliġjuża jew saċerdot. L-abbużi sesswali għandhom jiġu denunzjati lil awtoritajiet kompetenti , partikularment lill-puliżija”. ( Diskors ta’ l-Isqof Grech fil-konkluzzjoni tal-Konferenza Nazzjonali “Is-Sbuħija tal-Ġisem. Lejn Teoloġija tal-Ġisem”, 31 ta’ Ottubru 2010)
5) Imbagħad hemmimġieba skandaluża, bħalma huma skandli koroħ l-abbużi fil-Knisja partikularment l-abbużi sesswali imwettqa minn membri tal-kleru jew reliġjużi. Abbużi ta’ din ix-xorta, iktar u iktar jekk ikunu involuti l-minorenni, jagħmlu ħsara enormi u qed ikissru l-kredibilita tal-Knisja
( Omelija li Mons Isqof Mario Grech għamel waqt il-pontifikal ta’ l-10 ta’ Frar 2010 fil-Munxar)
6) Da parti tagħha, il-familja kif ukoll dawk l-istituzzjonijiet li jassistu l-familja fil-formazzjoni u l-kura ta’ l-ulied, bħalma huma l-iskejjel, iġorru fuq spallejhom id-dmir li jħarsu u jippromwovu d-drittijiet tat-tfal. Huwa allarmanti li llum għadhom jsiru allegazzjonijiet li f’ċerti istituzzjonijiet, bħalma huma xi familji u xi skejjel, għad hemm min jagħmel vjolenza fiżika u morali fuq it-tfal. Incidenti bħal dawn għandhom jiġu denunzjati lil-awtorita” ( Messaġġ tal-Isqof Grech fl-okkażjoni taċ-Ċerimonja ta’ l-Għoti tal-Premju “Qalb tad-Deheb”, 25 ta’ Jannar 2008)
7) “Ix-xhieda tagħna hija importanti ħafna għax issaħħaħ il-kelma tagħna. Daqstant ieħor tkun detrimentali xhieda skandaluża. Nagħmel referenza għall-allegazzjonijiet ta’ abbużi sesswali minn funzjonarji pastorali. Fil-preżent fi-djoċesi tagħna is-saċerdot normalment huwa fdat. Nibżgħu għal din il-fiduċja. Imġieba skoretta mhux biss tagħmel ħsara gravi lill-vittmi, imma tkisser il-kredibilita tal-presbiterju kollu, aktar u aktar jekk din l-imġieba tirriżulta waqt l-azzjoni liturġika. FIl-provinċja Ekkleżjastika Maltija għandna ‘Policy’ li jien obligat insegwi; imbagħad hemm ukoll istruzzjoni mill-kongregazzjoni tal-Fidi li tgħid li jekk l-Isqof ikun mgħarraf b’xi inċidenti bħal dawn, huwa fid-dmir li jikkomunika magħhom” (Diskors ta’ l-Isqof Mario Grech fil-laqgħa tal-bdil ta’ l-Awguri mas-Saċerdoti, 5 ta’ Jannar 2008)
8 “It-tfal għandhom dritt illi ma jkunux abbużati, la fiżikament, la psikoloġikament u lanqas emozzjonalment. Minn tagħrif li għandi, quddiem l-Aġenzija Appoġġ hemm ħames mitt każ jistennew li jiġu trattati. Possibli ma nsitgħu nagħmlu xejn biex dawn il-każijiet jiġu investigati fi żmien qasir? L-ewwelnett ħalli nneħħu darba għald ejjem l-idea li min qed jagħmel dan l-isfreġju fuq uliedna jibqa frank; imbagħad biex ngħinu lil dawn il-vittmi jirkupraw dimensjoni importanti li tista’ tħallihom immarkati ħajjithom kollha! Għalina li niftaħru li għandna ċivilta li tiddefendi d-drittijiet tat-tfal, dawn hum drittijiet li jeħtieġu azzjoni immedjata. (Omelija ta’ l-Isqof Mario Grech, festa tat-twelid tal-Madonna, Xagħra-8 ta’ Settembru 2006)
9) Għandna t-tfal li qed jiġu vittimizzati. Ħafna drabi meta nitkellmu dwar it-tfal bħala vittmi jiġina f’moħħna l-abbuż sesswali tat-tfal, jew l-abbuz fiżiku, jew psikoloġiku tat-tfal. Iva dawn l-affarijiet huma ħżiena, u hemm bżonn illi niqfulhom, ikunu ġejjin minn fejn ġejjin. U hemm bżonn illi nsemmgħu leħinha biex uliedna jiġu mħarsa u rispettati”
(Omelija tal-isqof Mario Grech, Festa ta’ Santa Margerita, Sannat-23 ta’ Lulju 2006)