Pope Benedict XVI did the right thing. He took time out to meet eight orphans who were repeatedly abused at the hands of the priests in whose care they had been entrusted. As Lawrence Grech, the spokesman of those abused men put it; the Pope took on the embarrassment of acknowledging the acts of others.

Mr Grech said that the individual meetings, which were held as they should have been, in private and without media intrusion, gave him and the others a sense of peace. He also said that while he did not get a formal apology, it was clear that in doing what he was doing, the Pope and Malta’s bishops did “a big thing”.

Mr Grech also said that he had not forgiven the priests who had abused him and others. “I cannot forgive anyone until we get justice through the courts,” he said. We point out that Pope Benedict XVI did the only thing he could have done in the circumstances – but he showed that the Catholic Church is ready to back up its promise to acknowledge and weed out pedophilia committed by the clergy.

He also showed that the Church listens to its flock – the people of Malta and Gozo, even the most fervently devout of us – knew what the Pope had to do on his visit here. To say that the general public was disgusted at what happened is a fair comment. To say that the Pope is trying to build bridges and has done what needed to be done is also fair comment. As Lawrence put it – he did a big thing.

At last, as the victims put it, they have filled that void which has kept them away from the Church. Now, they are demanding that the courts get into gear and push ahead with the hearings of the three priests concerned. The case has been going on since 2003 and it is only now in 2010 that the media have again picked up the torch to see these people processed. It is our failing, as an independent medium of communication to have ‘forgotten’ about this case, as did others. We needed reminding and we were reminded by these men. They reminded us that they were horribly abused as youngsters and that they want justice. They reminded us that they have been waiting to see the cases against their alleged tormentors concluded. We will not forget again. This newspaper will write a leading article every week if needs be, because it is clear that these cases have been put on the back burner. It does not take seven years to conclude a case which involves adult accused, adult victims and adult witnesses. It is absolutely shameful to have left the victims in limbo all these years and something must be done.

The Pope has done the right thing in acknowledging the failures of the men who abused young boys and teenagers. He suffered embarrassment and shame on behalf of those who perpetrated the acts. The victims have also been embarrassed and feel shame. And now, we must move on. We reiterate that it is completely unacceptable to have this case drag on for year after year with no progress being made. The development of Canada opening up a cold case against one of the priests will help as it will put international pressure on our justice system to speed up the process as this person is being sought for extradition.

There can be no more excuses. We know the practices of the courts and the clever tricks which lawyers employ to make a case long-drawn out and protracted. We will not divulge details as the hearings are rightly being held behind closed doors. But we too were shamed – we did not do our duty in helping these men as much as we should have. We will not make the mistake again and we will follow this through to the very end. Seven years – shameful, despicable, and not by coincidence either. If the Pope did the right thing, it is time for our legal system to do the right thing. Get in gear; we will not let it be forgotten again. And neither will the people of Malta and Gozo.