Paedophilia is without question a very serious crime and a grave sin.

It is aggravated when the sexual offender is in a position of trust with regard to his victim, which is commonly the case.

The number of cases of sexual abuse of minors by ministers of Christian churches that have come to light in recent years is considerable and many have come to judgement, affording some satisfaction to the victims and their families. The Church has in turn inevitably suffered immensely in material and moral terms. The Australian prime minister announced last week that she was considering setting up a National Commission to examine this grave issue

A problem in Malta is that the local Church still fails to give the impression that it is prepared to accept the so-called vicarious responsibility when its appointed priests are convicted of such misdeeds.

Judge Alistair Macduff’s recent ruling on a case in Portsmouth is particularly relevant here and this excerpt bears repeating:

“The [priest] was provided with the premises, the pulpit and the clerical robes. He was directed into the community with that full authority and was given free rein to act as a representative of the Church.

“He had been trained and ordained for the purpose. He had immense power handed to him by the defendants (the trustees of the Roman Catholic diocesan trust). It was they who appointed him to the position of trust which (if the allegations be proved) he so abused”.

England’s Court of Appeal upheld this judgement.

Furthermore, the local Church assumes it has the right to decide on the form and the size of the compensation due when there is a court conviction. This might not be acceptable to the victim concerned, in which case the matter should be left to an independent civil tribunal.

Joseph A. Muscat

TA’ XBIEX