Bishop Charles Scicluna has promised that cases of sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy will be investigated and judged within the shortest possible amount of time.

He made the declarations in a pastoral missive, which was delivered to mark the beginning of advent last Sunday. The bishop begged for forgiveness and said that while priests are still human, "such sins are grave when they are to the detriment of others".

The news should be welcomed by all. After seeing how the St Joseph's abuse case took eight years to conclude, Malta recoiled in collective dismay as it became abundantly clear that a number of boys had suffered abominably at the hands of three priests whose care they were in. Since then, allegations surfaced about alleged abuse carried out by Fr Charles Fenech - Director of Kerygma. Again, it turned out that the Church authorities had long been informed of the allegations, but no investigation had been concluded.

But since then, Bishop Scicluna, who is heading the church in Malta until the Pope approves a successor to Mgr Paul Cremona who resigned last month citing exhaustion, just before the Fr Fenech case, has been shaking things up within the church.

He has announced that the church has approved a policy document on how the church will deal with any alleged infractions by members of the clergy.

One of the most pertinent points in the document is that bishops will cooperate with the civil authorities to ensure that cases are reported in good time. These are welcome words indeed and it seems that Mgr Scicluna is trying to drag the Church out of its seeming paralysis and face up to the fact that crimes are crimes and that anyone who is guilty of committing them has to face justice. It seems that more has been done by the Church under the tutelage of Mgr Scicluna in the past few weeks than has been done in the past few years. But of course, there is a big difference between talk and action. The Church must be seen to be truly repentant and that it wants to bring itself in line with modern society in Malta, living by the same norms and standards and the rule of law that ordinary citizens abide by.

Some would argue that although Mgr Scicluna's intentions are genuine and meant to improve the standing of the Church in the eyes of the faithful, the could also be an element of jockeying for the position of Archbishop of Malta. This could well be the case, but in doing so, Mgr Scicluna is also showing that he has the qualities for leadership - the qualities to take painful and courageous decisions. Mgr Scicluna has the academic and emotional intelligence to move the Church forward. He also has the moral convictions, the drive and the stamina to lead the Church out of its paralysis and into better pastures to be the institution that is so intrinsically tied to Maltese culture.