I felt I should write in to answer one point in Victor Scerri's otherwise excellent write-up entitled Whose Life Is It? (September 29).

Dr Scerri asks why a member of the clergy, unlike members of other professions, should have the privilege of having his case heard in camera, instead of in open court.

The answer, in my opinion, lies in the fact that a priest is not just a member of another profession. While being a human being, liable, like any of us, to succumb to our fallen human nature, a priest has, nonetheless, by virtue of his Ordination, been raised, as it were, to the sublime and vested with the dignity and authority of Christ Himself. In fact, the Church refers to a priest as alter Christus (a second Christ).

So we Christians who truly love and follow Jesus Christ, while in no way condoning any wrongdoing by an erring priest, should surely not begrudge him some form of protection from public disgrace, both out of respect and love for the One he represents, as well as because of the damage such public disgrace can cause to those faithful who are not mature enough to distinguish between the holiness of our faith and its human and frail ministers.