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	Church's Popularity at All-Time Low By Stephen Calleja Malta Independent August 14, 2011 http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=130436 The fact that two priests committed serious and heinous crimes does not entitle us to put all members of the clergy in the same basket. There are weirdoes and perverts in every profession and social sector. And to make sweeping statements that all priests are paedophiles or pederasts – call them what you will – is as wrong as saying that all journalists are unethical and hack into people's phones because the News of the World did. But this does not exonerate the local Curia from blame, as it is clear that it did not act promptly on the accusations that were made. In fact, its procrastination serves only to raise suspicions that it attempted to keep matters within its own four walls. To have the Vatican's Chief Prosecutor Mgr Charles Scicluna speak of Church investigations as being "never-ending" and "ridiculous" clearly shows that the Curia did not do enough to ensure that justice prevailed. I did not write last week about this scandal that has rocked the foundations of the Church in Malta because I wanted to have the chance to read as much about the issue as possible. I knew that last Sunday's newspapers would carry extensive reports and in-depth analyses of the court judgment, and so I spent most of the morning going through everything that had been printed. It was only Il-Mument that chose not to give so much prominence to the shameful happenings in the Church-run home for adolescents, except for a short story on page 3 about the possibility that the victims of the abuse by the two priests will be seeking financial compensation from the Church. There were no excerpts of the judgment lifted for analysis, no interviews with the victims and no comment pieces, as there were in the other Sunday newspapers. Instead, the Nationalist Party newspaper opted for a double page interview, with a synopsis on the front page, about the work of Maltese bishops abroad. Frankly, I was not surprised that the Nationalist media preferred to give little importance to the disgraceful priestly abuse and have a larger write-up on the good work of other Maltese clergy. I am sure that many Maltese priests, locally or abroad, carry out sterling work in their community, but having such an interview last Sunday was ill-timed and smacked of a feeble attempt to balance things out. The Nationalist Party is known for its strong links with the Church, and it will do anything in its power to please, or at least not to undermine, the Curia. We saw it happening in the run-up to the divorce referendum, when the Nationalist Party took the same stand as the Church on the issue, and the Nationalist newspapers and radio and TV stations were the only media to take a position against divorce – and attack other media that expressed itself in favour. On one occasion, Il-Mument carried a double page spread to insinuate that there was an orchestrated attempt to put the Church in bad light, simply because other newspapers were doing their duty and reporting facts. Of course, it is the PN's prerogative to choose what to report and what line to take in its media, but I cannot agree with such a blatant attempt to play down what happened at St Joseph's Home. The priestly abuse, coming hot on the heels of the defeat to which the Church succumbed in the divorce referendum, despite the tens of thousands of euros it spent on its marketing campaign, has dealt another blow to the Church. It can easily be said that the Church's popularity in Malta has reached an all-time low. It will take a long time for the local Curia to recover from this double setback, if ever. It definitely has been an annus horribilis for the Church in Malta. This was not the first time that priests have abused young men under their care. Over the past years, dioceses around the world have been embroiled in similar scandals. And I am sure that such crimes have been happening for a long, long time – it's only that nowadays victims find more courage to expose the ordeal to which they have been subjected. I will not go into the sordid details of this particular case. Charles Pulis and Godwin Scerri committed monstrous crimes on innocent young people in their care, scarring them for life. They deserved the punishment they received and should have received more. I shudder when I think, that a few weeks ago, I was sitting between them while I was waiting to give testimony in court on another case. What struck me was that they barely acknowledged each other; and yet they have so much in common. Apart from the feeling of disgust I felt as I read what those youngsters had gone through, what also annoyed me was, firstly, the fact that the judicial process took so long to run its course and, secondly, that the Church has done so little to stop priestly abuse. What I find appalling is also the fact that, a few weeks ago, I was among those who were accused by the Bishop of Gozo of being a wolf in sheep's clothing just because I was airing my views in favour of divorce. And yet these boys were abused for many years by people who were supposed to be taking care of them. I wonder who the real wolves are. The Church needs to think deeply about what went on at St Joseph's Home to ensure that it does not happen again. It should also be the first to report any claims of abuse by priests to the police and should see that its internal structures deal with reports of abuse efficiently, effectively and without undue delay. There is one other thing that the Church should do. Apart from removing a priest accused of abuse from his position or the area in which he is working immediately, the Curia should also publish his name, especially if he is accused of abusing minors. I think all parents would want to know that the priests who can get close to their children can be trusted – just as much they should know whether the lay adults who work with children have been involved in similar cases. If I am accused of abusing a child, my name will be splashed all over the media - unless that child were my own in which case the victim's identity would need to be protected - even before I am proven guilty or acquitted. It should be the same for priests. Saying sorry and shaking hands with the victims is simply not enough. Contact: scalleja@independent.com.mt
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