‘I Prayed To Jesus To End My Life’: Victims Of Church-Run Orphanage In Gozo Testify To Relentless Abuse
Earlier today, the Constitutional Court presided by Judge Mark Simiana heard the testimonies of two alleged abuse victims of a Church-run orphanage in Gozo, as reported by TVM.
The alleged survivors at Lourdes Home- which is found in Għajnsielem Gozo, narrated a shocking episode when they were living in the orphanage some decades ago.
One of the alleged victims, Rosanne Saliba, testified to being only six years old, when her life changed forever.
Before that age, she had never endured any type of abuse. However, when Sister Josephine Anne Sultana took over, everything changed.
“She was very cruel. I describe her as a monster,” the alleged victim said.
She recalled how they had to wake up at 5.30am and prior to going down to attend the mass, the sister would make her clean the bathroom.
“After we got back to the orphanage after school, the Sister would be waiting for us behind the door with a piece of wood in hand. If you had a dirty school uniform, you would be in for a beating,” she continued.
She described how one time she was made to wash the socks of 14 girls and boys with freezing water.
“Once I received such a big blow to the face, that I got a black eye. When the Sister found out that I told someone what had happened, as soon as we went back to the orphanage I was locked in a room for three days with nothing but two tables and the worst mattress she could find. I was only 10 years old.”
She also added that once, the priest who used to visit the orphanage for confessional exposed his genitals when she went in for a confession.
“He started laughing and telling me that this is nothing. Later on he tried to force me to touch his private part and he also tried to touch me,” she continued.
“If I had let him, every time I would have gone to confess, he would have done the same,” she added.
Being the quiet kid she was, she used to hold back a lot when the sister continuously beat and berated her, the alleged victim said.
“I used to pray to Jesus to end my life,” she admitted.
“The blows she gave us were very big, mostly because we would get stuck on a homework problem, and instead of explaining the homework sweetly, she would beat us incessantly, she would pull us from our hair and hit us with all her strength,” she testified.
She also admitted that she had to start frequenting a psychologist, and the Sister made her feel useless.
She recalled that one time, she was scrubbing the corridor of the orphanage, when Sister Dorothy Mizzi went up to her and asked why her biological mother had not called her in a while. “I told her that I didn’t know the reason since us children were not the ones to answer the telephone.” She recalled how the Sister went to ask the Madre and when she went back she told the alleged victim “your mother has been dead for two years.”
She also alleged that the Sisters denied her any information on her family
She explained that she brought the case up with the Curia, including the now Cardinal Mario Grech, and other relevant individuals who referred her to the Vice Squad.
Inspector Kylie Borg from the Vice Squad told her that the case was time-barred.
“I couldn’t sit back and do nothing,” the alleged Lourdes victim continued, saying that she contacted the Pope and corresponded with his Secretary.
Carmen Muscat, now 51 years old, also testified to being sexually abused, saying that as she grew older, Sister Josephine took her to see a priest in a private area of the orphanage.
“They would force me to touch myself,” she admitted, adding that a priest had exposed his genitals during a confession.
Muscat testified that the when the Sister beat them, she would say: “I hope you choke in your own blood because no one wants you and from here, no one will be able to hear you.”
She recalled that the beatings were so bad, that the bruises on a dark-skinned boy who was at the orphanage still looked purple on his skin.
In 2008, the Curia opened an inquiry into the matter and on the same year, the then Bishop Mario Grech, issued an apology.
In 2011, police launched a probe into the Gozo orphanage, Sister Josephine Anne Sultana and Sister Dorothy Mizzi, in relation to an abuse claim filed by a boy dating five years back.
Muscat also revealed that in 2020, she spoke with the bishop and found out that the files and documents related to the case were all destroyed.
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