Curia slams l-orizzont reports, says union is attacking Archbishop for defending workers’ rights

The Archbishop’s Curia said yesterday it was disappointed by the “persistent and unjust attacks based on false accusations” being made by the General Workers’ Union-owned newspaper l-orizzont.

The newspaper ran articles on Friday and yesterday that claimed an employee of the Missionary Office has been working over 40 hours a week for a number of years on a parttime basis.

Without any attempt to hide its bias, the newspaper said the Archbishop, who frequently tweets against the government, has remained silent on this issue.

The Curia said the reports contained totally false allegations about an employee of the Missionary Office. The office, it explained, does not fall under the Curia but is part of an autonomous international organi- sation that falls directly under the Pope. The office will be taking legal action against the GWU paper.

The Curia said the GWU newspaper had persisted with attacks against the Archbishop and the Church ever since Monsignor Scicluna had spoken about 600 workers who are part of a GWU jobless scheme and who are being paid less than normal workers.

“All the Archbishop had asked for was that the profits made off these workers be given to the same workers. Contrary to what the GWU does, workers engaged with the Dar tal-Providenza through this scheme receive the same salary as other workers who carry out the same work. It is difficult to understand why the Archbishop is being attacked by a union simply for defending the rights of workers.”