By John Paul
Di-Ve
April 20, 2010
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=71681&newscategory=31
Maltese law would need to be changed to mandate that the church reports sexual abuse allegations to the police, despite new Vatican guidelines widely interpreted as constraining it to do so, www.di-ve.com is informed.
The guidelines, on understanding basic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith procedures in dealing with such allegations, largely concern the way local dioceses should deal with such allegations, including the sanctions they can impose on offending priests and the measures they can take to protect their congregation.
They also note that "civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed," a statement interpreted by news media across the world as ordering dioceses to report priests involved in abuse allegations to the police.
Currently, alleged child abuse by members of the clergy in Malta is handled by the Curia's Response Team, which was set up in 1999. The response team, headed by retired judge Victor Caruana Colombo, does not report cases to the police, but informs victims of their right to do so themselves.
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In recent articles on Maltese media, Mr Justice Caruana Colombo has been quoted as saying that the Vatican calling on dioceses to report crimes to the authorities would spell the end of his Response Team.
However, in a reply to questions by www.di-ve.com, lawyer and Victim Support Malta director Roberta Lepre noted that in Malta there is no automatic duty by third parties to report such crimes.
"The guidelines refer to the relevant state laws and specify that these should be followed. Since our law does not automatically bind all third parties to report such crimes, this does not translate into an automatic duty on bishops to report the crime to the police."
When contacted, Mr Justice Caruana Colombo concurred with Dr Lepre's assessment, stating that the guidelines would not, in any way, impinge on the Response Team's operations – unless Maltese law is changed.
He said that the church is obliged to investigate allegations which it is informed about, a task which, in Malta, is left to the Response Team. He noted that while the victims are informed of their right to report the case to the authorities – stressing that this is always made clear – the Response Team's investigations were confidential under Canon Law, and the team could therefore not report the case on its own initiative. The findings of investigations are kept in the Curia's secret archives.
Mr Justice Caruana Colombo added that should the law be changed to bind third parties to report sexual abuse allegations to the police, then the police would take over the Response Team's role in investigating them. However, the Vatican's guidelines had immediate no effect on the team's operations.
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