Archpriest allegedly punches woman in church on her birthday

By Rachel Attard
Malta Independent
February 8, 2015

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-02-08/local-news/Archpriest-allegedly-punches-woman-in-church-on-her-birthday-6736130254

An archpriest has been accused of slightly injuring a woman after he punched her in church.

The archpriest has also been charged with breaching the peace.

The vice-archpriest of the same community, who witnessed the incident, has also been charged with breaching the peace and insulting the woman with the utterance:  "itilqu lill-Arċipriet, m'hawnx qassis li ma tisfrattaħx u ma tistax tara qassis..." (Leave the archpriest alone, you cannot set eyes on a single priest without leading him astray).

The woman has, in turn, been charged with harassing the archpriest himself.

She first got to know him a few months before the incident, which took place on 8 November, the woman's birthday. She had turned to him for spiritual guidance following a bad break-up and started attending mass daily at the parish church.

The woman was eventually asked by the archpriest to start giving catechism lessons to children at the parish.

But later, the two had a falling out and when the woman sought an explanation for his distinct change in attitude toward her, the archpriest became angry and allegedly punched her. The incident was witnessed by the vice-archpriest who, according to the criminal complaint filed, had also insulted the woman.

The victim immediately filed a police report at the locality's police station and was examined at a polyclinic, where she was certified to have suffered slight injuries to one of her shoulders and her neck.

The case is set to be heard in Court this month, after having been deferred in January.