Three Church personnel banned over sexual abuse of minors in 2025

Updated 8.30pm

Three Church personnel in Malta were banned from all pastoral activity after the Church's Safeguarding Commission substantiated allegations that they sexually abused minors.

One was a "nun/religious priest" while the other two were lay people, according to an annual report. 

The cases form part of six substantiated complaints against church personnel last year. The other complaints, all involving lay people, concerned physical abuse of a minor, a breach of professional boundaries involving a minor and a case involving a vulnerable adult.  

The three people found to have sexually abused minors were prohibited from carrying out any pastoral work. In the remaining cases, the commission recommended that the people involved be restricted from some activities.

The figures were published in the Safeguarding Commission’s annual report, presented on Wednesday during a press conference at the Archbishop’s Curia in Floriana led by Mark Pellicano, who heads the commission.

“No case should be swept under the rug,” he said. “We take each case on responsibly and evaluate it professionally. In each case, professional help is offered to the alleged victim.”

The commission, which investigates alleged abuse by pastoral functionaries in Malta, received 46 reports in 2025 involving 44 people. Of those, 23 concerned minors and 24 involved vulnerable adults. Five of the reports concerned incidents that allegedly happened more than 10 years ago. These cases are not all necessarily concluded in 2025.

Among the 23 referrals involving minors, two concerned diocesan priests, three religious priests or nuns, 16 involved lay people and two concerned unidentified people.

Of the 24 referrals involving adults, five involved diocesan priests, one of whom was involved in two cases, and seven involved religious priests or nuns, one of who was involved in three cases, and 12 lay people.

43 cases concluded in 2025

Another 43 cases were concluded in 2025, concerning 40 individuals and two entities. One of the 40 individuals was involved in more than one case. From the concluded cases, 28 involved minors and 15 vulnerable adults. Eight of the cases happened over 10 years ago and are considered ‘historical’, all involving minors.

From the cases concerning minors, five of them were substantiated and another five were investigated internally by an entity outside the Safeguarding Commssion. In nine of the cases, no further action was required by the Safeguarding Commission. Six were considered unsubstantiated and three were not safeguarding concerns.

Among the cases concerning vulnerable adults, one case was substantiated. Five were investigated internally by another entity, two required no further action, and seven were not considered a safeguarding concern.

Pellicano said the Safeguarding Commission deals not just with criminal cases but also general breaches of code of conduct. However, when a minor is concerned, the Commission always contacts child protection services.

The Safeguarding Commission is concerned only with cases that happen in Malta. Gozo has its own diocese and Safeguarding Commission.

Anyone who suspects a safeguarding concern can send an email to info@safeguarding.mt or call 2247 0950 and ask for the Safeguarding team.

'Safeguarding must be core organisational responsibility': LMF

Reacting to the findings, the Lisa Maria Foundation said the report underscored the critical importance of robust safeguarding frameworks within all organisations.

Safeguarding, it said, must be embedded as a core organisational responsibility.

"Reporting and safeguarding mechanisms must be proactive in preventing harm, while also being transparent, independent, and decisive when responding to allegations.

"Such structures are essential not only to protect individuals, but to ensure accountability and maintain public trust. It is a relief to see that safeguarding processes have led to the removal of individuals from positions of responsibility as a consequence of abuse they are alleged to have perpetrated."

Still, the removal from office must not be the end of accountability. Those responsible for abusing children must face criminal investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution, and be held fully accountable under the law, it added.

The report also draws attention to the substantial number of non-recent abuse cases brought to the commission’s attention.

"This reflects a reality that the Lisa Maria Foundation has long highlighted, that survivors of childhood abuse may take many years, often decades, before they can process their trauma and come forward.

"This reality reinforces the Foundation’s continued call for the removal of statutes of limitation on child sexual abuse. No survivor should be denied justice because of the passage of time."

The message must remain clear, consistent, and uncompromising, it said, adding that time did not erase abuse.

Those who harm children cannot evade responsibility, and survivors must always retain the right to be heard, believed, and to seek justice, the foundation reiterated.