The 11 victims of clerical sex abuse at St Joseph’s Home in Sta Venera are set to have a meeting with Archbishop Paul Cremona today at around 11am, at his residence in Attard.
This is the second meeting in almost 18 months that the victims will have with the Archbishop.
On 3 August, two priests were jailed after they were convicted of committing sex abuse crimes at the orphanage around 20 years ago.
Carmelo Pulis, thought to be in his 70s, and who recently resided at St Agatha Convent in Rabat, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of abusing nine boys.
He has since been defrocked by the Vatican.
Fr Godwin Scerri, 75, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment after the court found him guilty of sexually abusing two boys.
Following the guilty verdict, the Archbishop’s Curia released a statement, expressing regret on behalf of the Church.
The last time Mgr Cremona met the victims was on 13 April 2010, following a request by the victims.
That meeting, which lasted over two hours, was described as a “great help” to the victims, Lawrence Grech, who often acts as the victims’ spokesman, said afterwards.
The meeting came about after the Church’s Pro-Vicar, Mgr Anton Gouder, contacted the victims earlier this week through their lawyer, Patrick Valentino.
The victims have not planned to say anything in particular to the Archbishop, Mr Grech said, although he stated that the victims are “still awaiting complete justice. There’s another priest, Fr Conrad Sciberras, who is alleged to have committed sex abuse on us orphans, and we want to see Church proceedings against him sped up”.
The victims’ last meeting with the Archbishop was followed by another meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during his 26-hour pilgrimage to Malta between 17-18 April last year.
A Vatican statement after the meeting said the “Pope was deeply moved by their stories and expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered. He met with each victim one by one to hear his story and to speak with each privately”.
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