Church's film classification board chairman 'fired'

The Church yesterday refused to confirm whether the priest who testified in favour of the banned play Stitching has been "fired" from his position as chairman of its film classification board.

Fr Joe Abela, who testified on his own behalf during a court case about the play, was informed about the Church's decision on Monday by the media commission that appointed him in the first place, according to fellow film critic Tony Cassar Darien.

Fr Abela himself would not comment on the matter.

Mr Cassar Darien said that on Tuesday Fr Abela got permission from his superiors to attend the annual event which he loved dearly: a meal for film critics organised by KRS film distributors.

Although he was allowed to attend, the event turned into a farewell dinner for Fr Abela with all his colleagues telling him they would miss his presence at future events.

On Wednesday morning, the critics had their first film viewing since Fr Abela's testimony and, for the first time, he did not show up.

According to Mr Cassar Darien it was understood by everyone that Fr Abela had been fired and his colleagues were expecting to be informed about who his replacement would be.

"I spoke to many people about this and no one denied that he had been fired, including many top-ranking priests. Everyone was justifying the decision rather than saying that it was not true," Mr Cassar Darien explained, when he was told that the Church was not confirming the news.

Sources said Fr Abela was fired through a phonecall from the Church's media commission that appointed him in his role as chairman in the first place. Fr Abela is known to have spoken with Archbishop Paul Cremona about the Church decision.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Church communications office said: "Our office has not been informed about this decision".

On Tuesday, the Church said the case was still under discussion so the communications office had no information as to whether he had resigned or was sacked.

In court, Fr Abela had said he was testifying on his own behalf as a priest who had watched the play. However, he had not informed the Church of his intention to testify.

During his testimony he said the play should have been classified as 18R because mature people should be free to watch it. He said the play had taught him a lot about the suffering that parents went through after losing a child.

The Church publicly distanced itself from the comments he made but later clarified its comments saying it was not taking a position in favour or against the ban.

"Once Fr Abela pronounced himself on his own merits, the Church was in due responsibility to make her position clear on what he said in court," a spokesman said when pressed. The spokesman added that the Church had not analysed the play or made any judgments on it.

The Church said its main intention was to inform the public that Fr Abela did not testify on behalf of the Church or the board of film classification but had done so in his own capacity.

The play, produced by Unifaun Theatre, was banned by the state-appointed Board of Film and Theatre Classification weeks before it was meant to be performed in February. The producers then instituted court proceedings to overturn the decision. The case continues.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com