Ex-Gozo bishop ‘was unaware’ of priest’s role in rape case

Updated 5.46pm with Commissioner for Children's statement

Cardinal Mario Grech has said he only became aware of Fr Michael Said’s role in brokering a €7,000 deal for a 14-year-old girl to drop a rape claim on Sunday.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported on the silence of the Gozo diocese following a court judgment which found that Said had acted as an intermediary in a 2008 payment to a Nadur family, in exchange for them dropping their claim that their daughter had been raped by the brothers of Nationalist MP Chris Said.

The case took place when Grech was the bishop of Gozo.

Times of Malta asked Grech when he first became aware of the case, whether he ever discussed the matter with the priest and what action the Gozo diocese took at the time.

The cardinal said he was unaware of the situation until this past weekend.

“Only yesterday [Sunday] did I become aware of the case; no one had ever brought this issue to my attention before,” he told Times of Malta.

Grech declined to comment when asked for his views on the matter, as well as the ongoing silence by the Gozo diocese and its safeguarding commission.

No one had ever brought this issue to my attention before- Cardinal Mario Grech

Times of Malta first revealed the case in October 2008, in a front-page story on its Sunday edition.

At the time, the girl’s mother had said that the family was approached by close relatives of the Said brothers, together with a priest acting as an intermediary, urging them to drop the complaint in exchange for money.

However, the identity of the priest involved was not revealed until last week’s court judgment.

Times of Malta first reported on the story in October 2008.

The priest did not respond to repeated requests for comment and the Gozo Curia said it had no comment to make.

The Gozo Church’s safeguarding commission, which describes itself as responsible for addressing the “maltreatment, abuse, or exploitation of minors and vulnerable adults”, also did not reply to questions.

Times of Malta also reached out to the Gozo seminary, which lists Said as one of its three assistant headmasters. Questions sent to the seminary remained unanswered at the time of writing.

Last spring, the Gozitan cardinal had found himself in the sights of SNAP, a network of survivors of abuse at the hands of member of the clergy.

The network accused Grech, together with five other cardinals, of covering up sexual abuse cases within the Church. In Grech’s case, SNAP cited years-old reports concerning two widely documented cases of abuse.

In one case, Dominic Camilleri, a Gozitan priest, was found guilty by the Malta diocese of sexually abusing boys in Gozo. The second case raised by SNAP referred to abuse at Lourdes Home, an orphanage in Għajnsielem.

Grech had rebutted SNAP’s accusations, saying he “always took all the necessary steps whenever I was informed of allegations of abuse”.

What is the Church going to do now?

Momentum in a statement on Tuesday asked what the church in Gozo would do now that the name of the priest involved in this case had been revealed.

"Assuming that in these 18 years the (church) authorities were unaware of the identity of the priest-broker in this sad case, this excuse no longer exists. We all know who the priest is. So it is unacceptable that the Cardinal and the bishop refuse to comment on his despicable behaviour," party leader Arnold Cassola said.

"The Church Authorities have done a lot over the years to strengthen safeguarding structures and measures. However,  to retain their credibility, these structures need to explain how they are addressing the safeguarding concerns related to the present role of this priest. "

'Children must be heard, believed and protected' 

The Commissioner for Children has called for “reinforced safeguards” to ensure children are “heard, believed, and protected” when they speak up about abuse.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Office of the Commissioner also urged for the “complete removal of any time limitations” on the prosecution of child sexual abuse cases, and the removal of the victim’s complaint as a requirement for legal proceedings to be initiative in cases of alleged child sexual abuse.

It insisted that anyone who becomes aware of abuse "must act without delay and report it to the relevant authorities". 

Expressing its “deep” concern regarding situations which might enable child sexual abuse to go undetected or unreported, the Commissioner for Children insisted “every child has an inherent right to protection, safety, and dignity”.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that these rights are upheld without exception so that children do not face the severe and lasting consequences of child sexual abuse.”

It added that the protection of children “must be treated as a matter of urgency and collective responsibility”.

“Perpetrators and those who may be complicit in perverting the course of justice [must be] held fully accountable under the law. Justice must be pursued consistently and without delay,” the Commissioner said, adding this would send a clear message that “abuse will not be tolerated and that those who harm children will face appropriate consequences.”