The Bishop said yes. The Mother General defied him publicly and said no. It seems that she got her way. It would have been an internal Church affair were it not for the fact that the victims are very vulnerable children.
Gozo Bishop Mario Grech had set up a commission to investigate allegations that physical and psychological abuses occurred in Lourdes Home. The commission found in the affirmative and Mgr Grech instructed the Mother General of the Dominican Sisters to put into practice the recommendations of the commission so that such abuses would not happen again. The Bishop published the findings - though not the whole report - and asked for forgiveness on April 4. He also said he wanted the Home to remain open. He had also made the appeal on March 20. One might have wondered then why the Bishop was laying so much stress on this point; latter events clearly indicate why.
In the April 4 statement, Bishop Grech said the report had been presented to him a few weeks earlier and that he had immediately contacted the Mother General to inform her. An analysis of these dates and those listed in a statement by the government - in which it said it had been willing to help but the Dominican Order was adamant the place should cease serving as a children's home - indicates that once informed of the commission's recommendations the Mother General wrote to Appoġġ to inform them she had decided the children's home would be closed.
The Bishop's public appeals remained unheeded. The government's offer to help was refused. The Commissioner for Children too appealed that, in the best interest of the children, the home should remain open. But to no avail.
Bishop Grech asked for forgiveness for the abuse committed by some Dominican sisters while recognising the good work done by the vast majority of them.
In sharp contrast, the Order appeared defiant. No apology. No home. The bottom line is that the irrevocable decision forcing a re-homing of vulnerable children is yet another abuse added to those committed before.
The Diocese of Gozo is now not offering any shelter to children who, because of myriad difficulties, need to be cared for outside their immediate family. Had this decision been taken as part of a plan to close Church homes and substitute them by a well-managed system of adoption and fostering, things would have been different. But the way the saga evolved is sad. It is not a case of the Sisters winning over the Bishop but a big loss to innocent children.
The Church should be proud of the work it did in the care of children barring some sad events like the one under review. The Church still has an important role to play. It should now look towards the future. Bishop Grech, a few days after the publication of the April 4 statement, told The Times that it was time for the Church to evaluate its work in this area. Indeed, now is the time for the Church in the Archdiocese of Malta and the Diocese of Gozo to set up a credible and high-powered task force so that it could chart the way forward.