An Appeals Court decision today confirming prison terms to two former priests guilty of sex abuse shows the truth had finally prevailed, victim Lawrence Grech told reporters.

Speaking outside the Law Courts, after the decision was handed down, Mr Grech appealed to other victims of sexual abuse to come forward and speak up, thus releasing themselves from the burden they had carried for so long.

Mr Grech also confirmed that the victims would pursue claims for monetary compensation from the Church and said the victims expected to be treated in the same way as others abroad.

He described the Church as ‘an enemy’ saying that once the case became public, no real help had been offered to the victims.

Instead, he said, the Church had spent considerable funds on lawyers, when the money could have been better used to help the victims.

The Church, he said, should shoulder its responsibilities and the government should investigate its secret files to unearth more truth. He said he was not prepared to forgive.

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