Pope Benedict XVI this weekend faces perhaps one of his greatest litmus tests of his papacy, with the world’s eyes trained on Malta to see how the Pontiff will address the crisis that has engulfed the Church in recent weeks.
Much of the world will be waiting with bated breath to see if and how Pope Benedict addresses the issue – to see if he will or won’t address the clerical abuse scandals sweeping the globe and if he will or won’t meet with the Maltese who have requested an audience as well as a public apology from the Pope himself.
Malta today is under the global media’s spotlight, not only because of the papal visit, but more so because of speculation of how he will address the scandals that have been hitting the Church.
As The Times of London succinctly put it yesterday, “A papal trip to Malta would not normally attract world attention, but these are not normal times in the Vatican. The Pope’s first overseas engagement since the sex abuse scandal embroiled the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy will take place in the full glare of the media — the same media that some of his supporters accuse of waging a campaign against him and their religion.”
Apart from the timing of the trip, which had been established before the abuse scandals broke out, the specifically Maltese, and now international, aspect all started with a letter to the Vatican sent three weeks ago by Lawrence Grech. Mr Grech has since made news headlines from New York to Manila and from Sydney to Tokyo. But it is neither fame nor notoriety that he and his companions are seeking. What they are seeking this weekend is a form of closure to their ordeal from the pontiff.
This weekend is the Pontiff’s first trip abroad since the recent abuse scandals and ensuing controversy emerged. A meeting with Maltese abuse victims is anticipated in the light of similar meetings he had held in the past when on overseas visits.
But, after all, even if the Pontiff refrains from meeting the alleged abuse victims, such an action could be understandable. Irrespective of one’s feeling’s as to the honesty of those claiming abuse at the hands of members of the clergy, the operative word is ‘alleged’. The case is still in court, albeit seven years after charges were filed, and the veracity of the victims’ claims have not been proved in a court of law. Innocent until proven guilty is more than an axiom, it is a concept that we all must adhere to before pronouncing judgment.
The Vatican this week was non-committal on the prospects of the Pope meeting the Maltese abuse victims, and made it clear that if the Pontiff chose to do so, such a decision would not be the result of media pressure to do so, which has been coming on hard and strong.
A Vatican spokesperson said this week that while no such meetings were on the Pope’s official agenda, he is likely to meet the Maltese victims privately “in a climate of prayer and reflection, not under media pressure”.
Such meetings, he said, have “always taken place in an atmosphere of contemplation and discretion” and the Pontiff does not want to hold any “under media pressure, with little opportunity to listen,” he said, adding that the Pope “has already said he was prepared to meet (abuse victims) as he has done in the past,” in the United States and Australia in 2008.
In a bid to contain the damage being done to the Church’s reputation, the Vatican this week issued a new set of guidelines on what a bishop should do when confronted with abuse cases.
The guidelines stipulate that where a country requires abuse to be reported, the Church must follow the law and report abuse to the civil authorities.
The problem for Malta, however, is that there is no such obligation and as such, the Maltese Church remains exempt from the rule, despite what Maltese media reports have claimed this week.
The fact of the matter was confirmed by none other than Mgr Charles Scicluna the “promoter of justice” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a televised appearance on Friday evening (see page 60 for full story).
“Civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed,” the guidelines say.
The Vatican insists it has long been the Catholic Church’s policy for bishops, like all Christians, to obey civil reporting laws. But such an explicit policy had never been spelled out, until Monday. Unfortunately, the guideline does not appear to apply to Malta.
The Pope’s visit to Malta is a monumental one – it is the first visit of the current pontiff, it comes just a day after celebrating his 83rd birthday and he leaves Malta a day before commemorating the fifth anniversary of his tenure.
But, it is hoped that this weekend’s visit will be remembered for more than this. It is hoped that the visit will have provided the Church and the pontiff himself with the opportunity to set the record straight once and for all, and to do so before one of his most devout audiences.
Now is the time for the faithful to stand foursquare behind their spiritual leader, and Malta is responding, true to form, in extremely good measure.
President George Abela summed it up nicely at yesterday’s arrival ceremony when he said, “…those of us who believe, are fortified by these fundamental values enunciated by the Church and, though we acknowledge that church members, even its ministers, may, at times, unfortunately go astray, we are left in no doubt that these values have universal application and their validity transcends both time and space.
“It would be wrong in my view to try to use the reprehensible indiscretions of the few to cast a shadow on the Church as a whole. The Catholic Church remains committed to safeguarding children and all vulnerable people and to seeing that there is no hiding place for those who seek to do harm. It is therefore the Church and even the State’s duty to work hand in hand to issue directives and enact legislation so that effective, transparent mechanisms are set up together with harmonized and expeditious procedures in order to curb cases of abuse so that justice will not only be done but seen to be done.”