MaltaToday previous editions

MALTATODAY 13 October 2019

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1176246

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 16 of 55

17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 OCTOBER 2019 INTERVIEW Fewer people than ever before, it seems, are being enticed into the priesthood, or religious orders. And in many Church schools today, most (if not all) of the teaching staff are now lay professionals. Do you see a correlation between this, and the mishandling of the child abuse scandal? Is fear of 'guilt by association' holding people back? I don't think all the blame can be placed squarely on these scandals, no. There has been an effect, certainly. It would be futile to deny it. But the decline in vocations can- not be attributed to just that. There are other factors; and there were also other scandals. I don't want to go into detail about cases that are ongoing as we speak… but some of the stories we have read in the pa- pers recently did not exactly cast the priesthood in a very good light, either. These scan- dals, too, have an impact. They undermine the image of the priest as a testimony of God's love. But even this doesn't ad- dress the bigger picture. Let's face it: how many children do families have nowadays? One or two… three at the very most. And there is also a cumula- tive effect: you mentioned this yourself. How many teachers in Church schools are, in fact, members of the order which runs the school? Very few, nowadays. So where, until a few years ago, the priesthood had much more exposure within society… it has a lot less today. And on top of all this, society itself is changing. This is a reality that cannot be ig- nored… Speaking of local schools… there have been, as we all know, scandals occurring right here in Malta. In one of these cases – Dar San Guzepp in Hamrun – the perpetrators have since been brought to justice. But does this mean that the issue itself has been successfully resolved? What has been done, in practical terms, to address the possibility of further child- abuse cases? The main difference, I would say, is that we are now lot more aware than ever before of what to be vigilant against. We understand the issue a lot better, now. But in terms of procedures: today, when a case in known, there is now an obligation to report it to the Safeguarding Commission… and once the report is made, the Safeguarding Commission will immediately investigate, in conjunction with the po- lice… But isn't the Safeguarding Commission just another internal Church structure… like the 'Response Team' before it? And if so, doesn't that also mean the Church will be (yet again) investigating itself? No, the Safeguarding Com- mission is very different from the Response Team. For start- ers: it is led by lay people, not members of the Church. The Church has its own representa- tive on the board, yes… but the rest is composed of lay experts in the field. So already, you can see that the intention is seri- ous. Moreover, the policies are continually being updated. There is also training being provided to staff members of Church schools, for exam- ple… though here, perhaps, we might not be offering as much training as is needed. Because we need a lot. But still, it's a process; and so far, I would say we have made a good start. But obviously, we can't say: 'As of tomorrow, there will be no more abuse cases'. To give an- other example: there is now al- so a screening process in place for newly ordained priests. Yet there have also been cases (in- ternationally) of priests who underwent screening, and still went on to abuse all the same. So: can we rely on screening, alone, as a safeguard? Clearly, no… Do you yourself have faith in the new safeguarding procedures? Right now, I would have to say: not 100%, no. I do have full confidence in the Safeguarding Commission itself, and in the new policies. But how much, and to what extent, these policies get implemented in schools, and other Church in- stitutions… that's another sto- ry. Meanwhile, there are other issues involved. One question to be asked is: do newly ordained priests have enough mentor- ship at the very beginning? Without pointing fingers at anyone, I feel that sometimes, priests do need to have some- one to turn to, when faced with certain problems or situations. This is perhaps something that affects members of religious orders less: because we live in a community, under the guid- ance of the order's superior. It makes things easier. There are even statistics that show higher rates of abuse among diocesan priests than within religious or- ders; perhaps because, within a community, there is more sup- port and less… 'loneliness', for want of a better word. Whereas the diocesan priest – especially overseas – spends most of his time alone. This is also a side effect of the vocational crisis you mentioned earlier; not so much in Malta, perhaps; but very often, the typical parish priest will find himself com- pletely isolated, without any support whatsoever… The situation you describe raises questions about the Church's future. With dwindling vocations and declining Sunday Mass attendance (in Europe, at any rate; and Malta is no exception), the Church seems to be losing quite a lot of its former status. Do you share that perception? And what do you think is the way forward, under the circumstances? I can only talk from the per- spective of a member of a re- ligious order. Unfortunately, I think that many communities and religious orders have dis- tanced themselves from the charisma and roots of their re- spective founders. And I think this, too, is one of the causes for the decline in vocations. If communities were to return to their roots… I think we would start seeing more vocations. Because when matters of the outside world started infiltrat- ing religious communities; and society stopped seeing any dif- ference between the life of a religious order, and the world outside… That is part of what puts people off. If there is no difference between religious life, and the life they lead any- way: why even bother with it? […] As I see it, whenever the Church, at any level, distances itself from the Gospel – which is the Absolute Truth – it loses sight of its entire purpose. But we also have to make an im- portant distinction here: the Church is not a social service, either. You might ask, but what about the Missions? What about the schools, the institu- tions, all the charitable work? It all ties in: because the message of the Gospel is a message of love; and through those insti- tutions, the Church shows that she is an instrument of God. But that's just part of the mes- sage. Ultimately, the Church exists to bring human beings to Holiness… so that, after they die, they enjoy eternal life in the company of God and all the saints. When we distance ourselves from the Gospel, from the teachings of Christ… that's when the foundations get shaken. So – again, without go- ing into specific details – when you hear stories of priests who contradict the message of the Gospel so totally… the damage that is done is quite frankly ir- reparable. must be genuine PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES BIANCHI

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MALTATODAY 13 October 2019