MALTA
Times of Malta
October 20, 2018
Over the last two decades, the Catholic Church has been rocked to its foundations by accusations of sex abuse of children by the clergy. Pope Francis apologised unreservedly to victims for the extent of the abuse and the cover-ups committed by senior churchmen across the world.
After a rocky period when secrecy was the order of the day, it has been encouraging to see the transformation in the way the Church in Malta and Gozo realised that the fundamental key to getting a grip on the culture and the causes that underlie clerical sex abuse lies through positive action.
The head of the Church Safeguarding Commission, Andrew Azzopardi, has just presented the annual report, in itself an act of transparency and accountability which demonstrates the Diocese’s readiness to face the issue head-on. Its publication shows unequivocally the Church is in earnest about rooting out a scourge that would otherwise threaten its moral authority, as it has done in so many other parts of the world.
In presenting the report, Mr Azzopardi said that last year three substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors had been referred to the police by the commission, thus ensuring that such appalling crimes would be dealt with by the criminal justice system under Maltese law, not the Church authorities. In all three cases, the commission had imposed restrictions on the pastoral activities that could be carried out by the perpetrators – two priests and a lay person – as a precautionary measure pending police action.
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