Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514782
KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt 10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JANUARY 2024 Timeline of events 1952 – Lourdes Home is opened 1970/80 – Abuse occurs 1999 – Allegations surface for the first time by former residents of Lourdes Home 1999 – Former Bishop Nikol Cauchi opens first inquiry 1999 – First inquiry is concluded, with former bishop Nikol Cauchi saying allegations of abuse were "unfounded". Victims of abuse are not told investigation has been closed. 2006 – Bondi+ reveals inquiry conclusions for the first time. This is also the first time the victims are made aware of the results. 2006 – Gozo Bishop Mario Grech opens second inquiry. Commission is chaired by retired judge Victor Caruana Colombo. 2008 – Lourdes home is closed down after commission concludes its findings. 2008 – Former Gozo Bishop Mario Grech issues public apology to victims of abuse and asks for forgiveness. 21 May 2011 – Nuns questioned by police over child abuse claims. 2011 – Sister Josephine Anne Sultana is charged in court. 4 September 2011 - Lourdes Home Abuse victims petition for change in law. 2020 – Carmen Sammut asks current Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma to hand over her personal files. He tells her they have been destroyed. 2021 – Former resident speaks to then Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis about the case. 2021 – Former residents send official letter to the Vatican. 27 July 2021 – Abuse victims receive letter of acknowledgment from the Vatican. 6 July 2022 – Carmen Sammut and other victims meet with current Justice Minister Jonathan Attard who recommends they open a constitutional case. 18 July 2022 – Victims meet with Gozo Dioceses Safeguarding commission. 2 August 2022 - Gozo Dioceses Safeguarding commission informs victims a report has been filed with the Police Vice Squad. 27 August 2022 – Victims are called for a meeting with Inspector Kyle Borg. 29 October 2022 – Victims meet with Dominican Provincial Vince Micallef who told them he does not have anything to do with the case. 13 February 2022 – In meeting with human rights lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic, victims decide on moving ahead with constitutional case. 27 June 2023 – Constitutional case is officially registered. 15 January 2024 – The victims start testifying in the constitutional case. THE victims of abuse at the Lourdes Home orphanage do not accept the apology issued by the Gozitan church in 2008 after an investigation found wrong- doing. "It was a copy of a media re- lease issued to the press, not even a personalised letter. I de- served more," one of the victims, Carmen Sammut, says in an in- terview with MaltaToday. She is one of the survivors of abuse at the now defunct or- phanage in Ghajnsielem that was run by the Dominican nuns. In 1999, the victims took the decision to reach out to the Gozitan church's highest au- thority – bishop Nikol Cauchi. Cauchi had created a commis- sion charged with investigating the case, with victims sending letters detailing what they had been through. The allegations concerned Sr Josephine Anne Sultana and Sr Dorothy Mizzi, relating to the period between 12 December 1975 and 30 Oc- tober 1984 when Sr Carmelita Borg was Mother Superior. But for more than seven years, the investigation's conclusions were kept under wraps, only for them to be revealed dur- ing a joint investigation by the Malta Independent and Bon- di+ in 2006. The investigation concluded the claims were "un- founded". After journalists shed new light on the case, Cardinal Mario Grech, who was by then bishop of Gozo, opened an inquiry led by retired judge Victor Caruana Colombo. The inquiry concluded two years later found that "inadmis- sible behaviour involving mi- nors" had taken place at Lourdes Home. In a short statement titled "I ask for forgiveness", Mgr Grech explained that the commission that was set up by the Curia had reached "the conclusion that in some particular cases, there had been inadmissible behaviour in- volving minors that should have never taken place." Furthermore, he added, the commission also presented "some recommendations that will ensure that such abuse would never happen again". The Gozo Curia statement did not say what the recommendations were and the report was never published. The victims explained the anger and frustration they felt when they had received a "so- called" apology from the bishop, which was a reproduced media release which had been sent to the press. "I do not accept that apolo- gy. The abuse wasn't carried out by him; she abused us, she should answer for what she did," Roseanne Saliba, another victim, says. "You knew there was abuse, you apologised for the abuse, but yet they were not punished. They are still working with elderly people, leading the Order. How does that make sense? The inquiry started well, but it did not end so well. Not even a phone call, not once did someone grab a phone and call me to see how I was, how I felt." Mary Borg (not her real name), a third victim, who however chooses to withhold her iden- tity, goes as far as labelling the diocese "mafia". "How was that an apology? They could have helped us, they could have saved us. But today Sister Josephine works at an old people's home. What justice is that?" she says furiously. "They had an empire of predators, and we were the prey." In a last gasp at justice, the vic- tims have banded together and with their lawyer Lara Dimitri- jevic have taken their fight to the country's highest court. They are suing the State for failing to protect them when they were minors. "We have thirsted for justice so long, they have kept their secrets hidden for so long, we deserve it," Carmen says. "They deserve to be locked up in prison." Lourdes Home victims refuse Gozo church's half-baked apology Former Gozo bishop Nikol Cauchi: An investigation on his watch concluded the claims were unfounded In 2006, a second inquiry established wrongdoing at the orphanage and Bishop Mario Grech issued a public apology