Church weekly ordered to pay €9,000 libel damages to Gozo monsignor

In a surreal state of affairs, the Church-owned newspaper Il-Ġens Illum was ordered to pay €9,000 in damages to Monsignor Giovanni Gauci after it was found guilty of libel.

In an article entitled Nafu X'Aħna Nagħmlu? (Do we know what we are doing?) published in April 2007, an anonymous author implied, Mgr Gauci complained in court, that due to his position and his relatives in the Cathedral Chapter, he could ignore the Bishop's spiritual and administrative direction.

In a tough judgment, Magistrate Silvio Meli concurred with Mgr Gauci and found that the article was libellous and "poisonous". The points raised in the article had not been proven and, indeed, had been proven to be false.

The court dismissed the newspaper's pleas that the article consisted in fair comment and that its content was substantially correct. The court found that the article was malicious and aimed at attacking the credibility of a man who had dedicated his life to his faith.

The newspaper's editorial board should not have allowed itself to be manipulated in such a manner and if its members could not defend the fundamental human rights of each citizen they ought to resign.

The article had commented on the functions of a chapel known as Santa Savina in Victoria, which, it said, had been constructed for the purpose of perpetual adoration but that no such adoration was taking place. Its rector is Mgr Gauci.

The article also said that the chapel's façade had not been lit up on the Maundy Thursday prior to publication.

Mgr Gauci said he felt hurt by the contents of the article and told the court that perpetual adoration had been increased in the three summer months.

He complained that the allegation by the weekly that he had increased the number of functions was malicious because it implied that he was infiltrating a sphere reserved for some other Victoria parish.

The article was declared libellous and the editor was ordered to pay €9,000 in damages.