Former Labour minister Joe Grima has refused to apologise for the offensive language he used on Facebook to attack a British priest who wrote a critical article about former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.

“Of course my comments were offensive but so were his. I wanted to reply in the same and even stronger language than he used,” Mr Grima told The Times.

The article in The Catholic Herald was written by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith, a former student at St Edward’s College during the 1970s and 1980s.

“Dom Mintoff, a dominant figure in Malta for 30 years, did great harm to his country,” the priest wrote.

The comment elicited rage from the former Labour minister and now One TV current affairs programme presenter.

“F*** you Father. If you’re not already used to it there are enough paedophiles in your clan to show you the ropes,” he wrote, in direct reference to criminal cases involving paedophile priests.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Grima said he had no apologies to make as his comments were meant “to respond in the same tone” used in the priest’s article which, he insisted, aimed to hurt people.

Pressed on whether his comments were also aimed at offending priests and the Church in general, he argued this was not his intention and insisted he had great respect for the majority of the clergy. His words should not be interpreted in such a way to imply all priests were paedophiles, he said

He added he was surprised at the interest being shown by the media since “others were not so offended and scandalised”.

“The majority of the comments I received were in my favour and agreed with my tone. There was even someone who said I should be given a medal,” he said.

One TV chairman Jason Micallef said Mr Grima’s comments were made on his private Facebook page and the station therefore had nothing to do with it.

Shortly after speaking to The Times, Mr Grima once again resorted to Facebook wall to write: “The PN and its bedfellows are trying to make a dog’s dinner out of my comment on Fr Lucie-Smith after he wrote his hate article against Dom Mintoff... I stand by my every word to Fr Lucie.

“He chose the moment when he knew that his words about Mintoff would hurt us most and he and the Maltese hate mo(n)gers who put him up to it should now know what lengths we will go to defend Mintoff’s legacy.”

Others who posted comments on Mr Grima’s Facebook wall echoed his sentiments and some used even stronger language.

Excerpts from Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith’s article on Dom Mintoff

“His hatred of Britain was the hatred of a spurned lover, thanks of the failure of his integration project; and his hatred of the Church may have had something to do with that as well, as it was Archbishop Gonzi who effectively torpedoed integration.

“Oddly for one who championed integration, he later led the campaign against Malta joining the EU. But he never really had any principles. A scourge of the Maltese private schools, he sent his own daughters to Cheltenham Ladies’ College.

“But Dom was no harmless eccentric. Neither was he a democrat. He would send his thugs into action when a little muscle could yield results. His thugs burned down the Times of Malta building, a newspaper that not even the Luftwaffe was able to put out of business.

“His thugs beat up striking students at the university. His thugs attacked the Archbishop’s Curia; and his thugs attacked the house of the Leader of the Opposition, Eddie Fenech Adami, and assaulted his wife.”

“In many ways Dom Mintoff represents a typical post-colonial leader – of the type now only Comrade Robert Mugabe is left.”