Source/Credit: The Malta Independent Online: By Stephen Calleja 14.08.2011/Photo: Google images
The fact that two priests committed serious and heinous crimes does not entitle us to put all members of the clergy in the same basket. There are weirdoes and perverts in every profession and social sector.
And to make sweeping statements that all priests are paedophiles or pederasts – call them what you will – is as wrong as saying that all journalists are unethical and hack into people’s phones because the News of the World did.
But this does not exonerate the local Curia from blame, as it is clear that it did not act promptly on the accusations that were made. In fact, its procrastination serves only to raise suspicions that it attempted to keep matters within its own four walls. To have the Vatican’s Chief Prosecutor Mgr Charles Scicluna speak of Church investigations as being “never-ending” and “ridiculous” clearly shows that the Curia did not do enough to ensure that justice prevailed.
I did not write last week about this scandal that has rocked the foundations of the Church in Malta because I wanted to have the chance to read as much about the issue as possible. I knew that last Sunday’s newspapers would carry extensive reports and in-depth analyses of the court judgment, and so I spent most of the morning going through everything that had been printed.