Church imposed restrictions on five people over sexual abuse incidents

The church imposed restrictions on four persons in 2018, and one individual in 2019 over proven sexual abuse incidents, Safeguarding Commission chief Andrew Azzopardi said.

The cases involved diocesan priests, religious priests and laypersons, he said at a press conference on Thursday where he presented the church commission’s annual report.

Azzopardi said that other restrictions imposed in three other cases concerned physical and emotional abuse, and poor practices. He explained that all these cases were referred to the civil authorities for investigation.

 “The church is proactive in reporting cases to the police or social services to ensure that allegations of abuse are also investigated by the competent civil authority,” he said.

Investigations in 2018

Azzopardi said that the commission received 19 new allegations in 2018 involving minors, and 10 involving vulnerable adults. 

He said the commission concluded 17 assessments involving minors. Six of these were substantiated, one was a matter of poor practice, four were unfounded, two were unsubstantiated, one involved someone who was not Church personnel, and three were referred to a third party as they were not a safeguarding concern. 

In the same year, 10 assessments were made concerning allegations that involved abuse of vulnerable adults. Azzopardi said seven were referred to third parties as they were not a safeguarding concern, one was unsubstantiated, one was unfounded, and one involved poor practice.

Investigations in 2019

Azzopardi said that in 2019, 16 new allegations were received involving minors and eight involving vulnerable adults.

Regarding minors, Azzopardi said that eight assessments were conducted, of which two were substantiated, two were unsubstantiated, and one was not Church personnel.

He said that in one case, the person was not identified due to lack of information.

Azzopardi said that of vulnerable adults three assessments were conducted of which two were unsubstantiated and one was unfounded. 

Azzopardi called for the setting up of a centralised authority to share information between organisations on people who may pose a risk to children and vulnerable adults.

“The experience of the church over the past few years has shown that the only way to truly support and empower victims of abuse is by transparently facing this scourge,” he said.

Training and education

Azzopardi said that the new certificate in Safeguarding of Children and Young people offered at the University of Malta began in October 2020 and this initiative would continue to build a positive safeguarding culture in society.

Azzopardi said that besides the course, the commission continued to train Church personnel. He said during 2018 and 2019, a total of 966 teachers, catechists, priests, religious, seminarians and volunteers were trained.

“As part of its vetting process required by law for any organisations working with minors, the commission verified that 4,451 people received clearance to work with minors,” he said. 

Azzopardi said that over the last two years, the commission conducted a review of the Church’s safeguarding policy and is in the process of having it published next year. 

He said that this followed a thorough consultation with victims, service users of various Church entities, statutory agencies and key stakeholders.