The Catholic Church in Malta said Thursday it would help the victims of priests recently convicted of sexually abusing minors in their care, despite not being legally responsible for the actions.
In August a court on the Mediterranean island nation handed down jail sentences to two priests for sexually abusing boys at an orphanage in the late 1980s.
The case shocked predominantly Catholic Malta.
One of the priests has since been defrocked by the Vatican.
The 11 victims have been pushing for financial compensation and a number of meetings were recently held between their lawyer and Archbishop of Malta Paul Cremona.
The Church said it was setting up a structure which will include psychiatric, psychological and social professionals to help people involved in such cases.
'The Church is doing this as part of her pastoral and spiritual ministry,' the statement said.
However, that stance was slammed by a spokesman for the victims, Lawrence Grech, himself a victim of the abuse when he was a child.
'It's a shame that the Maltese Church is not emulating other foreign countries' ecclesiastical authorities in giving us what is our due. These priests ruined our lives,' Grech, now 39, told the German Press Agency dpa.
He said the victims will be pursuing a civil case against the Church to demand financial compensation.