Updated | MSSP confirms Pope defrocks sex abuser…Church apologises

15:30: The Missionary Order of St. Paul (MSSP) has confirmed MaltaToday's revelation in it's Wednesday edition that Pope Benedict XVI has decreed that Fr. Charles Pulis has been defrocked, while a decision of Fr. Godwin Scerri will be taken at the end of this summer.

The MSSP had initially resisted to admit the Papal decree, and Vatican sources told MaltaToday that it was up to the Order to make it public. "The public has a right to know." the sources told MaltaToday.

13:00: The Church expressed its “deep sorrow” at how minors were abused by those in whose care they were placed.

In its statement, the Church also asked for forgiveness for how the abuse took place, primarily from the victims of the abuse, and also from Maltese society at large.

The Church also expressed sorrow over how the investigations into the reports of child abuse took so long to be concluded.

It said that Archbishop Paul Cremona intends to shortly meet once again with the victims of the abuse to request forgiveness from them personally.

The Church also urged anyone with information of cases of abuse to come forward and report the cases immediately.

It also said that it had strengthened its structures so that cases of abuse can be avoided or, if they take place, steps can be taken as soon as possible.

Supplying the statement later on during the day, Curia communications officer Kevin Papagriocopulo informed MaltaToday that the statement was available on the Curia’s website since they were issued.

But despite repeated interactions with both Papagriocopulo and the Curia’s Communication Office throughout the day while trying to obtain the statement, MaltaToday was not informed of the statement’s online availability at any point.

Earlier: Both men are members of the Missionary Order of St Paul, who were yesterday handed down a prison sentence for the serial abuse of 11 boys in their care.

MaltaToday can confirm that the defrockment order was signed last month, and forwarded to the Order’s superiors in Rome and in Malta.

But while Pulis is no longer considered a member of the clergy, there has been no announcement to this effect by the religious order to which he belonged.

Vatican sources have expressed dismay at the fact that the order has not yet publicly communicated the news about Fr Pulis’s defrockment.

“The people have a right to know,” the source said.

The two priests were yesterday sentenced to six and five years’ imprisonment respectively, at the end of an eight-year judicial process in the Maltese courts.

Magistrate Saviour Demicoli found them guilty of a series of abuses on a group of orphaned youths during the 1980s and 1990s at the St Joseph Home in Hamrun.

Through their lawyer Dr Joseph Giglio, they have made it clear that they will appeal the sentence.

The Papal decree regarding Fr Pulis stipulates that he will be permitted to remain within the religious community, however he will no longer serve as a priest but as a brother, “given his age.” As such Pulis can no longer celebrate mass.

With regards to Fr Godwin Scerri, MaltaToday is informed that his file was received at the Vatican some three weeks ago, and is expected to be processed after the summer.

St Paul’s missionary order superior Fr Louis Mallia was not reachable yesterday.

However, the superior at St Agatha’s home, Fr Tony Sciberras, said he was not aware of the Vatican’s decision to defrock Fr Pulis.

“I am sorry to hear this,” Fr Sciberras said, adding that he is also “sorry to hear about the judgment and about the whole case” against his two friends.

“I am indeed very sorry for all that has happened,” he said, adding that one must also respect the fact that both Pulis and Scerri are appealing the judgment.

Pulis and Scerri originally stood charged together with a third clergyman, Brother Joseph Bonnet, who passed away last January aged 63.

The case was made public in 2003, when Lawrence Grech, one of the alleged victims, revealed that he had been sexually abused while an orphan at St Joseph’s Home in Santa Venera in the late 1980s.

Police investigations into allegations of paedophilia by three members of the Missionary Society of St Paul took the country by storm.

Fr Godwin Scerri and Fr Charles Pulis were later charged by the police together with Bro. Bonnet.

They faced accusations by 11 victims, who were aged between 13 and 16 at time of the abuse: all orphans at St Joseph’s Home in Santa Venera in the late 1980s.

Eight of the cases alone took place in St Joseph’s Home, while one took place in the order’s summer residence in Marfa.

Fr Scerri was yesterday jailed for five years following being found guilty of similar charges. He was however acquitted of violent rape charges due to a flaw in the charge sheet, which accused him of raping one of the victims at Marfa, when testimonies revealed that the act had taken place in St Joseph’s Home.

In his sentence, Magistrate Saviour Demicoli referred to a number of testimonies that were delivered over the course of the eight-year trial.

He cited the testimony of a St Joseph’s Home care worker who stumbled upon Pulis and one of the victims, and testified that he had seen Pulis in boxer shorts and an undershirt on a bed, with the victim lying on top of him.

The care worker had also testified that Fr Pulis’s penis was erect and exposed, and how Pulis began talking to the care worker seemingly unaware of this fact. The care worker testified also that Pulis had pushed the victim off him when the care worker had walked in.

The court described Pulis’s behaviour as “highly disgusting” adding that the court noted how this took place over a number of years by a person who was responsible for protecting minors.

The court also said that these children were already under psychological pressure, since they had to be raised in care homes, adding that Pulis’s actions were “of the highest repugnance.”

The court also recalled testimony by another victim, who told the court how Fr Scerri had touched or masturbated him in various instances, either in Marfa, or at the care home, despite how he would ask Fr Scerri to stop.

The victim also testified how Fr Scerri would often also give him sweets and money.

The victim also said that in one instance, he had penetrated him from behind, and that he was sure of this because he felt it. He said that in that instance, Fr Scerri had visited him in his room to gift him with a stereo.

The court noted how the testimony was corroborated by another boy in the house, who had seen them go into the room and had tried calling for the victim to come out repeatedly, but both Fr Scerri and the victim remained silent.

The court also noted that most of the allegations faced by the priests were now prescribed, meaning that the two priests can no longer face charges for their commission.

Magistrate Saviour Demicoli added that most of these would have meant between three to six years of imprisonment had the accused been found guilty of them.

In January 2011, the court upheld a request to ban the publication of the priests’ names, and since then the case was heard behind closed doors.

At the same time, the Church Response Team initiated an investigation.

The victims also skyrocketed to prominence last year when they were able to meet privately with Pope Benedict XVI in April 2010 and had expressed his “shame and sorrow” and promised “effective measures” to protect young people in the future.

Meetings were also later held with Archbishop Paul Cremona and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech.

Following the meeting, the Vatican promised to investigate the case, following criticism of the Curia’s Response Team, which has, to date, not yet concluded investigations, which had been ongoing for seven years.

The victims had also received a letter from the Curia last October and were told that their case would be referred to the Vatican, which in January instructed the Maltese Church to establish a tribunal to investigate.

In the latest development in May, a tribunal member met with the victims to formalise the evidence they gave to the Vatican’s leading sex abuse prosecutor last summer.