Church takes steps in four cases of sexual abuse

A response team set up by the local Church in 1999 to look into allegations of sexual abuse against priests and laymen has so far recommended that internal action be taken in four cases involving minors.

The figures, supplied by the Curia yesterday, show that two of the cases involved priests while the others involved laymen in Church institutions.

Out of 17 allegations referred to the response team involving minors, nine were either dismissed or not supported by evidence while four are still pending.

The moderator of the Response Team, Fr Charles Cordina, yesterday told The Times that the Church had taken steps against the individuals concerned and some had also been sent for "rehabilitation".

"The first step a bishop must take is to ensure that these priests do not have access to minors," he said.

However, none had left the priesthood and nor had any legal action been taken against them.

In a strongly worded declaration on Tuesday, the Pope said there was no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who harmed the young - a view supported by the local Church - after a string of scandals around the world.

Fr Cordina said the priority of the Church in these cases was the welfare of the children involved, though he added that it had a responsibility to ensure that all the parties were treated fairly.

The local bishops were among the first to tackle the problem by setting up a commission to look into how to deal with cases of abuse back in 1997.

The response team was established two years later to handle all allegations of abuse against priests and those in Church institutions involving both adults and minors, along with a policy for dealing with such cases. The head of the response team is Judge Victor Caruana Colombo.

Fr Cordina stressed that the role of the response team was not to determine guilt, but to advise the bishops on whether there was a case to answer after gathering evidence.

Anyone may refer a case to the response team and it has its own helpline. The bishops and provincials have also committed themselves to passing on any reports of abuse to the response team rather than investigate the matter themselves.

However, the Church was not in a position to take any steps - other than keeping an eye out - where the allegations were anonymous and unsubstantiated.

Archbishop Joseph Mercieca has asked for a clarification of the status of the response team following a directive issued by the Vatican last November which states that all allegations of abuse must be reported directly by the bishops to Rome. "We need to see what is going to happen," Fr Cordina said.

He said that although the Church did not report the cases to the police, under no circumstances would it do anything to dissuade the claimant from filing a report.

Fr Cordina defended this approach by saying that experience had actually shown that the claimants themselves did not want their case to be made public.

"Our guiding principles are justice, diligence and respect for civil authorities. If a person feels he should file a report, he is free to do so. The judge tells them this is an internal matter, but if you feel you want to take further steps, then that is up to you."

He maintained that this approach was correct even where a possible criminal offence had been committed, though agreed that the police were in a much better position to carry out a detailed investigation of the case.

"It is not within our competence to report a case ourselves. Don`t forget that, like other tribunals, we look at the case from an internal point of view. Then the response team advises the bishop and he decides what to do.

"That`s why it is called a response team. It`s a responding tool, and does not have an investigative function.

"Our first priority is to stop any abuse that is going on. It is important that the Church responds to this. So it is important that action is taken as soon as we are aware. But if the person involved wants to take things further, then he is free to do so."

Fr Cordina said that in certain countries, the Church was bound by law to report cases of a criminal nature to the authorities - but this could be counterproductive because it may deter certain people who are being abused from coming forward.

One proactive step taken by the local Church has been to intensify its screening procedures for seminarians on their personality as well as sexual tendencies.

However, he said it was important for people to understand that the priority at stake was to protect children rather than targeting groups of abusers.

"What is our interest - the children? Do we really want to ensure that children do not continue to suffer as a result of abuse? Or are we more interested in finding out the kind of people who are carrying out the abuse? That`s what I ask.

"There have been over 100 child sex abuse cases in the last 10 years. What have we done as a society to combat this?"

Fr Cordina said it was important to bear in mind that the full implications of this abuse had only come to light in recent years and the local Church had been moving fast in recent years to inform every sector of its policy on the subject.

He also stressed the importance of keeping a sense of proportion and following the right procedures to ensure that the rights of the accused were respected.