A priest at the centre of child abuse allegations has never been questioned by the police or the Curia's Response Team, his superior general has said.

Fr Conrad Sciberras was not on the run and never fled to Italy, as has been widely claimed, according to Fr Bernard Mangion, superior general of the Missionary Society of St Paul.

Three priests are facing sexual abuse accusations in court in relation to incidents that took place at St Joseph's Institute in St Venera some 20 years ago.

A fourth priest was implicated but details have been scanty, with a society member recently saying police could not take criminal action against him because the case was time-barred, though he said the Curia's Response Team was still probing the matter.

But Fr Mangion told The Sunday Times Fr Sciberras was not fleeing justice - particularly as the Response Team had never called him in for questioning.

"Fr Conrad has never been summoned to court, and had not been called in by the police... though is prepared to appear before the response team if he is ever called up," Fr Mangion said.

The superior general insisted that neither the society nor the Curia ever put any kind of pressure on the authorities to stall justice.

It was back in 2003 that the alleged cases of long-running sexual abuse at the St Joseph's Institute were made public by 11 former residents.

The accusers, now in their 30s, have harshly criticised the Church and police for failing to act at once against the priests in question, as well as the courts for delaying proceedings.

Fr Mangion insisted the society relayed the information to the Curia's response team the minute the men made the allegations. The priests were instantly barred from carrying out their ministerial duties and prohibited from having any contact with children.

Fr Sciberras has been serving at Casa Generalizia, on the outskirts of Rome, since 1999 - four years before the accusations first surfaced.

He visits Malta once or twice a year and is constantly in touch with the society members.

"He says he is innocent so, of course, he is irritated about the claims," said Fr Mangion, when asked how Fr Sciberras was dealing with the accusations. He also insisted that Fr Sciberras's transfer to Rome was a normal posting.

Fr Mangion spoke of the sadness and suffering inflicted on the society as a result of the allegations.

"It was a double blow for us. While the priests still maintain their innocence, let's remember these men were under our care."

He also expressed disappointment that the Vatican had referred to the men making the allegations as "victims" rather than "alleged victims", thus pre-judging the case.

But a spokesman for the victims stood by the allegations. "It's a mockery of the justice system," said Lawrence Grech, who was among those granted a private "healing encounter" during the Pope's visit to Malta last April.

"Fr Conrad can meet us face to face, wherever he wants... we have no problem with it," Mr Grech said.

He added that the priest, now in his late 50s, should be made to respond to the accusations levelled against him.

While recalling that the alleged victims had no choice but to make the case public through the media because the authorities "refused to budge", Mr Grech said they had been kept in the dark by the Response Team.

A spokesman for the Curia said the work of the Response Team was confidential and it is not the Church's practice to discuss individual cases.

Questions sent to the police asking why they have never probed Fr Sciberras remained unanswered.