The purpose of this particular leading article is not to question the outcome of the St Joseph Home abuse case. We will take our cue from the victims, who have said they are satisfied that justice has been served.
What we do wish to highlight is the pure courage and determination of the ‘St Joseph boys’, who for more than 20 years had to deal with the abuse and psychological scarring that followed. Through it all, the dogged determination, strength and courage of Lawrence Grech saw them all through.
In speaking to the media, Mr Grech’s emotions got the better of him for the first time in the eight years since the story was broken. Did no one notice that Grech was gaunt, and seemed to have aged tremendously over the past months?
Mr Grech and his companions emerged from court feeling vindicated and victorious. But this soon turned to sadness and emotional overload as he said he could never forgive the two priests because there were others who had committed suicide or taken drug overdoses as a result of their shame and scarring.
They did not gloat, they did not heckle or harry. They simply rejoiced in their victory, saying that they had to take on the ‘strong’ Church and more over the years. The way all of these boys, now men, dealt with the revelations was dignified. At first many refused to believe them. Mr Grech also spoke about this and the hurt and pain he experienced when people said that they were just doing it for exposure and money. If anyone ever doubted him or them, then just take a look at the tears that rolled down his face as a thousand emotions tried to manifest themselves all at once, when he spoke to the cameras outside court.
The boys sought, and were granted, a meeting with Pope Benedict on his visit to Malta. Some expressed doubts in accepting that he was traumatized and ashamed at the St Joseph boys’ stories. Perhaps now, as events unfold and the two priests are defrocked, we can see that Pope Benedict was sincere and did do his part. Even during Pope Benedict’s visit, the victims were fair, firm and resolute in the way they dealt with the international media. It would have been very easy for them to manipulate the whole thing into an international media trial, but they resisted this temptation and doggedly pursued it to the end.
They did not give up when the process slowed down (purposely or not). They sent letter after letter to the church and state authorities. Eventually, their pressure paid off. This publishing house has always backed the victims, from when the first print interview appeared in our sister publication The Malta Independent on Sunday, all the way through to Tuesday’s court hearing. We now hope that these men can expel their inner demons and live as normal a life as possible. Some are husbands, some are fathers. All are heroes. They deserve our respect and admiration for refusing to give up and seeing the whole episode through to the end. They now deserve peace and quiet. Let us hope that vigilance will be practiced and that no one has to go through what these men went through again.