Gozo Diocese considering 'further steps' over priest's role in rape case The Gozo Diocese has said that it is looking into the possibility of "further steps" regarding a case allegedly involving a priest who helped broker a payment to the victim's family. The case centres on testimony showing that Fr Michael Said, a relative of some of the accused,
The Gozo diocese is gathering information to decide on possible action after a priest brokered a €7,000 deal for a 14-year-old girl to drop a rape claim, it said on Tuesday afternoon. In its first public comments on the case, the diocese said it “understands that such cases raise legitimate questions among the public”. The diocese said that “as soon
Cardinal Mario Grech has said he only became aware last Sunday of a priest’s role in brokering a €7,000 payment to a family in exchange for dropping a rape allegation involving a 14-year-old girl. According to Times of Malta , a recent court judgment revealed that Fr Michael Said acted as an intermediary in a 2008 deal with a Nadur family, who had
The number that stays with me is €7,000. Not because it is large; it is insultingly small, but because of what it was designed to purchase. The silence of a family. The erasure of a 14-year-old girl's testimony. The continuation of a system that has been buying, bullying, and burying the voices of survivors for as long as the Church has held power
Momentum leader Arnold Cassola has used the Nadur rape case to launch a blunt attack on two of Malta's institutions: the justice system and the Church. Referring to the 18-year legal saga, he said the case "puts to shame our country's institutions on two counts", arguing first that it exposed a legal system where "justice delayed is justice denied",
Cardinal Mario Grech said he only became aware of Fr Michael Said’s role in brokering a €7,000 deal for a 14-year-old girl to drop a rape claim last Sunday. The Sunday Times of Malta reported on the silence of the Gozo diocese following a court judgment which found that Said had acted as an intermediary in a 2008 payment to a Nadur family, in exchange
The Gozo diocese has declined to comment following a court judgment confirming that a priest acted as an intermediary in a payment made to a Nadur family to withdraw a rape complaint involving a minor. According to Times of Malta, Fr Michael Said brokered a €7,000 payment to the family of a 14-year-old girl in 2008, allegedly encouraging them to accept