Malta Lourdes home: Abuse allegations remain shrouded in secrecy

Silence continues to shroud the case of the Dominican nun who was questioned by the police after allegations of abuse at Lourdes Home in Gozo, as the Archbishop’s Curia yesterday told this newspaper it is not their policy to make public comments on such cases.

Questions were sent by this newspaper to the Archbishop’s Curia regarding the whereabouts of the nun who was questioned by the police, after allegations of abuse at Lourdes Home in Gozo emerged.

However the replies followed the line that the alleged case referred to the Gozo Diocese, not the Maltese Diocese, and that it was the policy of both dioceses not to make public comments about individual cases.

Commenting on reports that there had been attempts to keep the case hushed up, as it causes great damage to the Church on the eve of a referendum on divorce, the spokesperson said “neither the Curia of Malta nor of Gozo did anything to keep the case from becoming known.”

Back in April 2006 sister newspaper The Malta Independent on Sunday, together with Bondiplus, revealed allegations of abuse at Lourdes Home that mainly concerned Sr Josephine Anne Sultana and Sr Dorothy Mizzi.

These related to the period between 12 December 1975 and 30 October 1984, when Sr Carmelita Borg was Mother Superior.

A second case of abuse by the clergy also shrouded in secrecy is that of a teenager which emerged recently, when the youth also came forth with a story of sexual advances by a priest in the past months, as was reported in the media last Sunday.

It was reported that the abuse used to happen when the teenager attended youth group meetings in a convent in the South of Malta, supposedly where the family thought the youth was in a safe environment.

It was also reported that the case is being investigated by the Curia Response Team, although it appears not by the police.

Last week Pope Benedict XVI issued guidelines telling bishops around the world to report suspected cases of abuse of minors to the police.
“Sexual abuse of minors is not only a canonical crime, but also a crime that necessitates legal action,” Pope Benedict XVI wrote in the letter.