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	Vatican Intervened in Malta Clerical Abuse Probe Monsters and Critics August 7, 2011 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1655451.php/Vatican-intervened-in-Malta-clerical-abuse-probe Valletta, Malta - The Vatican's chief prosecutor Charles Scicluna had to personally intervene to speed up justice for victims abused at the hands of three priests, the Sunday Times of Malta reported. Father Charles Pulis and Fr Godwin Scerri were last Tuesday sentenced to six and five years in prison respectively for sexually abusing teenagers at an orphanage in the island of Malta. A third priest who also faced charges died last January. The case came to light in 2003 after one of the victims, Lawrence Grech, decided to break his silence. Yet, the victims consistently accused the Church of delaying tactics after its response team spent eight years attempting to reach a conclusion, while the criminal court verdict was only delivered last Tuesday. Charles Scicluna told The Sunday Times of Malta he never doubted the version given by the 11 victims when he interviewed them and is relieved the truth is out. But the Vatican official said he had no choice but to give the Maltese Church investigative bodies the necessary prod, especially after Pope Benedict XVI had met with the victims during a visit to Malta in April 2010. 'It was clear something was wrong. The fact that the Pope had agreed to meet these victims also meant I was responsible to ensure that the Pope didn't get close to this case for image reasons. It had to be translated into justice. Malta was quite a tonic for the Pope and meeting the victims was important. But we realised that in this case the investigation took far too long,' he said. 'They were delaying matters; it even seemed to be a big deal to get the members of the team to meet up. The processes were never-ending. It was ridiculous.' Scicluna expressed surprise that many professionals - from religious superiors to psychiatrists - were aware of Pulis's personal problems and yet failed to stop him serving at the orphanage.
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