George Cini
The Maltese Catholic Church will set up a special tribunal to deal with claims that three Maltese priests abused boys at an orphanage 20 years ago – but critics said the church was still moving too slowly.
Victims of the alleged abuse have repeatedly urged quicker action, most recently in a December 27 letter to the Vatican.
Local courts have been holding closed-door hearings on the allegations for seven years. The Maltese curia said the tribunal would be set up following instructions from the Vatican. No date was set.
Vatican spokesperson Rev Federico Lombardi said on Sunday those instructions had been sent at Christmas. “We hope that now the case can be dealt with speedily,” Lombardi said
Pope Benedict visited Malta early last year and had a private meeting with the alleged victims, who faced abuse in the 1980s and 1990s. Lawrence Grech, one of the five complainants, said the priests involved ought to have been defrocked ages ago.
“The court case has taken far too long,” he said. In a surprise move, the three accused priests filed a constitutional case on Thursday, claiming their right to a fair hearing had been breached because of the media exposure the case has garnered.
This constitutional case is expected to delay proceedings further. The Mediterranean island of Malta has 400000 people, the overwhelming majority of them Catholic. – Sapa-AP
No comments:
Post a Comment