The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami has settled a lawsuit in which
a former altar boy claimed he was sexually abused by the same priest
accused by former United States Congressman Mark Foley, reported the Associated Press.
The settlement was announced on Wednesday in a
lawsuit unrelated to the case concerning Mark Foley. In the lawsuit a
man identified only as John Doe No.26, claimed he was molested by
Gozitan Fr Anthony Mercieca when he was around 13 years old and serving
as an alter boy at St.
James Church in North Miami.
The incident allegedly took place in the 1970s and a
lawsuit was filed on the 25th October 2006, approximately one month after Florida
Republican Mark Foley resigned from Congress after sexually explicit computer
messages to young male pages surfaced. Subsequent to his resignation, Mark
Foley’s lawyer said that he had been molested by a clergyman when he was aged
between 12 and 13.
Soon after, on the 19th October, 69-year-old
Fr Mercieca, who now lives in Gozo allegedly told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
that he had series of encounters with Mark Foley, that the Congressman might
have perceived as sexually inappropriate.
However, speaking to the Associated Press
the following day, he said that the Sarasota Herald-Tribune "wrote many
things that I didn't say". In speaking to the Associated Press he also
said that Mark Foley and him “were friends and trusted each other as brothers
and loved each other as brothers." Asked if their relationship was sexual
in nature, the priest replied: "It wasn't."
Mercieca told the Associated Press that he
and Foley would go into saunas naked when he was a priest in Florida and Foley was a parishioner, but he
said "everybody does that." The priest also said he didn't think it
was unusual to go on overnight trips with a young boy.
When the Associated Press contacted Fr Mercieca’s lawyer
Alfred Grech on Wednesday he declined comment because he was not aware of the
settlement or lawsuit.
The Diocese of Gozo started investigating the
allegations on the 20th October that and the Bishop of Gozo, Mgr. Mario Grech, said
he would will also pass all information he receives pertaining to this case to a
response team set up specifically to probe the case.
See also:
Gozitan priest to be called to Miami to give testimony -
Oct 29, 2006, 17:51 CET
