Marsaxlokk parish priest Fr Luke Seguna is accused of swindling hundreds of thousands of euro given to him by parishioners over a decade — but many of his flock are standing by him. 

Every single person who spoke to Times of Malta in the fishing village on Wednesday morning had words of praise for their parish priest.

The locals said they are shocked and in disbelief that he was charged in court with financial crimes because they only saw him do good deeds.

They spoke out hours before a court heard details of how Seguna had amassed hundreds of thousands of euro across ten personal bank accounts, despite being on a meagre priest's salary. 

The 39-year-old is accused of misappropriating €500,000 given to him by 150 parishioners over a 10-year period.

Inspector Christopher Ellul, detailed how he owned five motorbikes, a Fiat 500 and a Land Rover worth €27,000.  While his total salary between 2016 and 2022 amounted to around €75,000, his total income amounted to around €449,000.

He labelled one of his personal accounts 'masses', and it contained some €80,000. 

But some of his parishioners went as far as to describe him as “saintly” and compared him to Jesus Christ, claiming the priest had been similarly betrayed. Others said they will not believe the allegations until the court reaches a verdict.

“He was like a saint. We can’t find anything wrong to say about him. Whenever we needed something, he would help,” one man said.

“I have known him for nine years and he only did good things for the Church and the people. We can vouch that the money we gave him was spent on parish projects because we used to work with him on those same projects,” a fisherman working on his boat said.

“Just the day before he was taken to court, we were here with him, as he blessed our boats. We still cannot believe it. One moment he’s here with us and the next day he’s on a stretcher in court.”

Fr Luke Seguna bought expensive bikes and cars on a priest's salary. Photo: Facebook

Another woman said she thought it was a mistake when she heard the priest was taken to court. 

“You know what? Even Jesus Himself was betrayed and I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that happened in this case,” another man said.

Times of Malta stopped virtually every local person who was out in the main streets of Marsaxlokk at the time of the vox pop and asked them whether they know Seguna and what they could say about his character.

Not a single one of them had anything unfavourable to say about Fr Seguna, instead describing him as selfless and charitable, charismatic and cheerful.

They said he would distribute food and money to people in need without showing off, especially during the peak of the pandemic, when some people were not making ends meet.

A few said he is the best parish priest Marsaxlokk has ever had and that he brought many people back to the Church, thanks to his way of dealing with people and the occasional joke at the end of Mass.

Fr Luke Seguna taking part in a recent parish activity. Photo: Facebook

Some noted he set up most of the youth groups in the parish.

Save for a few people who preferred not to show their faces on camera, most people who were stopped for a comment were eager to speak about the recent events.

The ones that were willing to comment off camera said they preferred not to show their faces because they are shy or because their work superiors would not approve.

But they all confirmed they liked Seguna, had no issues with him and that their reluctance to comment was in no way indicative of some wrongdoing they are aware of.

Seguna, 39, denies the charges of money laundering, fraud, falsifying a public deed and using a falsified document.

Prosecutors said the money was intended for the church but his defence lawyers insisted the money was given to him as personal donations for the celebration of weddings and other events.

The Curia has put Fr Seguna on administrative leave.