Justyne Caruana

Each and every time I hold my daughter in my arms I cannot but thank God for this great miracle of life. I cannot also but not think about the millions of children all over the world, suffering from hunger, neglect and abuse.

Many of us think that these things happen in remote countries and that these children are far away from us. However, the recent Lourdes home saga proves otherwise – especially to those sceptic people who never believed that such things could ever happen in Gozo. Well it did happen and for years the victims tried to speak up – not for themselves because what they suffered can never be rectified – they wanted to protect the children who were still at risk.

The children who suffered abuse are now women and men but they can never forget. When they approached authorities to report what happened to them, they were called liars and ungrateful to the people who raised them up. Finally, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech had the courage to open to lid and the findings proved them right. Their childhood can never be given back to them again but they did teach a lesson. Each and every allegation of abuse must be thoroughly investigated and the alleged perpetrators must be removed instantly to avoid further damage and intimidation.

The culprit nuns must face justice and be permanently removed from childminding institutions. But this does not mean shutting down the premises because this would imply that in Gozo we will have no premises to host children with problems. In Gozo we lack structures and services to tackle childrens’ problems and closing down the home would mean having no place at all to take children needing immediate removal from their home environment. The home still has a very useful purpose if properly and professionally manned and closing it down means denying a home to all those children in Gozo who need one.




Lourdes Home Saga
Maltastar (21-04-2008)
Each and every time I hold my daughter in my arms I cannot but thank God for this great miracle of life. I cannot also but not think about the millions of children all over the world, suffering from hunger, neglect and abuse. Many of us think that these things happen in remote countries and that these children are far away from us. However, the recent Lourdes home saga proves otherwise – especially to those sceptic people who never believed that such things could ever happen in Gozo. Well it did happen and for years the victims tried to speak up – not for themselves because what they suffered can never be rectified – they wanted to protect the children who were still at risk. The children who suffered abuse are now women and men but they can never forget. When they approached authorities to report what happened to them, they were called liars and ungrateful to the people who raised them up. Finally, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech had the courage to open to lid and the findings proved them right. Their childhood can never be given back to them again but they did teach a lesson. Each and every allegation of abuse must be thoroughly investigated and the alleged perpetrators must be removed instantly to avoid further damage and intimidation. The culprit nuns must face justice and be permanently removed from childminding institutions. But this does not mean shutting down the premises because this would imply that in Gozo we will have no premises to host children with problems. In Gozo we lack structures and services to tackle childrens’ problems and closing down the home would mean having no place at all to take children needing immediate removal from their home environment. The home still has a very useful purpose if properly and professionally manned and closing it down means denying a home to all those children in Gozo who need one.
© 2008 - Justyne Caruana