Four new clerical sex abuse claims have come to light since Archbishop Charles Scicluna took over as head of the Maltese Church three months ago.

Speaking during a candid question and answer session with Times of Malta’s newsroom, Mgr Scicluna said the new claims were all being looked into by the Church’s newly set up Safeguarding Commission. Some had already been handed over to the police for investigation. While all of the cases were “serious”, he said, only one involved minors.

During the question and answer session Mgr Scicluna touched upon a number of issues ranging from his resolute stand on racism to reforms to the Church Tribunal.

He drew a line in the sand saying he would rather close Church schools than have them abandon their Catholic ethos and admitted that, today, the Church was just one voice among many in Malta.

Asked what changes had been implemented to the way the Church dealt with clerical abuse claims, Mgr Scicluna said his priorities were twofold: hastening the investigative process and instilling a sense of faith in the church’s ability to get to the bottom of cases.

“What I would like to see is a change in culture where people feel they can trust the Church with important information like this,” he said.