MALTA
Times of Malta
Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona spoke briefly during a Christ the King Mass in Valletta, but he was succinct: “The Church needs creative people who will lead the country through evangelisation.”
His words echoed those of Pope Francis who, in his apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, urged pastors and the faithful to be bold and creative when rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelisation in their communities.
Since its inception, the Church’s primary mission has always been evangelisation, or, as Pope Paul VI aptly put it: “She exists in order to evangelise.” It is with evangelisation in mind that Mgr Cremona called for a creative Church. …
The conduct of its priests, above all else, is pivotal to the Church’s success in a new and creative evangelising effort. The sex scandals, be they real or alleged, undermine the Church’s credibility in the community it is seeking to evangelise. Here in Malta, as abroad, the scandals have done the Church great harm. Compounding that harm is the revelation that the recent allegations of sexual abuse by a priest had been under investigation by the Church’s response team for over eight years.
Apostolic Administrator Charles Scicluna is promising to bring an end to this inertia and said last weekend that lengthy investigations into allegations of clerical sex abuse are now a thing of the past. This is most welcome news. The Church is replacing its response team with a Safeguarding Commission that would appoint individual investigators to look into every report received. Mgr Scicluna has expressed hope that every investigation would be concluded within a week.
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