The Canadian Press – ONLINE EDITION
By: George Cini, The Associated Press
Posted: 01/9/2011 8:14 AM Last Modified: 01/9/2011 9:10 AM
VALLETTA, Malta – The Maltese Catholic Church will set up a special tribunal to deal with claims that three Maltese priests abused boys at an orphanage 20 years ago — but critics said the church is still moving too slowly.
Victims of the alleged abuse have repeatedly urged quicker action, most recently in a Dec. 27 letter to the Vatican in which they said church authorities and courts were taking too long to deal with the case. Local courts have been holding closed-door hearings on the allegations for seven years.
The Maltese curia said the tribunal will be set up following instructions from the Vatican. No date was set. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Sunday that those instructions had already been sent over Christmas.
“We hope that now the case can be dealt with speedily,” Lombardi said Sunday.
Pope Benedict XVI visited Malta last spring and had a private, emotional meeting with the alleged victims, who faced abuse in the 1980s and 1990s.
Lawrence Grech, one of the five complainants, said the priests involved ought to have been defrocked ages ago. “The court case has been taking far too much time,” he said Sunday.
In a surprise move, the three accused priests filed a constitutional case Thursday claiming their right to a fair hearing had been breached because of the media exposure the case has garnered. This constitutional case is expected to delay proceedings further.
The Mediterranean island of Malta has 400,000 people, the overwhelming majority of them Roman Catholic.
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Associated Press Writer Alessandra Rizzo in Rome contributed to this report.
They claim their constitutional right to a fair hearing has been breached.
The smae old same old.
Silly question I know, but, really, why do bishops/dioceses give these defence lawyers free reign?
And another which often runs through my mind: how can these defence lawyers look themselves in the mirror?