MALTA
Times of Malta
Members of the press were this morning asked to leave the courtroom just as Archbishop Charles Scicluna was about to take the witness stand to face cross-examination in the civil proceedings for damages instituted by 10 victims of clerical sex abuse.
The civil suit for compensation was filed in May 2013 by Lawrence Grech, Joseph Magro, Leonard Camilleri, David Cassar, Noel Dimech, Angelo Spiteri, Raymond Azzopardi, Charles Falzon, Philip Cauchi and Joseph Mangion.
Two priests, Carmelo Pulis and Godwin Scerri, tasked with caring for the orphaned children at St Joseph’s Home, were jailed in 2012 after the appeals court confirmed their conviction. They were found guilty of sex abuse on 11 underage victims entrusted to their care.
However, since all efforts to obtain monetary compensation for their suffering had failed, the victims were forced to open a civil suit against the Church.
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