Those old enough will remember that under Dom Mintoff's leadership the Labour Party's relations with the local Church authorities were anything but cordial. Unlike his predecessor and former leader Dr (the late Sir) Paul Boffa, Mr Mintoff often clashed with Archbishop Michael Gonzi over a number of issues.

Church-party relations reached crises point in the late Fifties and in the Sixties when the Interdict was imposed by the Church - a sorry chapter in Malta's recent political history.

However after the 1969 agreement between Mgr Gonzi and Mr Mintoff things improved considerably at least for a number of years.

Then came 1982 and the Mnarja incidents with the fierce attack during a political meeting by Mr Mintoff on Archbishop Joseph Mercieca and the disgraceful assault on the Archbishop when he was besieged in Lourdes church at Paola and St Lawrence's in Vittoriosa.

Two years later we had the head-on clash between the Labour Government and the Church over the Church schools issue, characterised once more by violence, when the Curia was ransacked by the "aristocracy of the workers".

Thankfully those days are over. Under Dr Alfred Sant "New Labour" was born, and violence and physical manifestations of intolerance no longer feature in the MLP's agenda. For which we should all be thankful.

Last week's visit by the Labour leader and his two deputies to the Curia and the meeting with the Archbishop and his Auxiliary, Mgr Annetto Depasquale, augur well for the future.

Although the meeting was not open to the press, it was reported that the bishops and the Labour leaders discussed issues which included the family, drugs and care of the elderly, and that both sides felt the need "for more informal meetings to discuss issues of common interest".

It is not known who took the initiative to hold the meeting. Whoever it was ought to be congratulated. Nothing but good can come out of such encounters, especially when meetings are not held under pressure, as often happens when hot issues arise.

Naturally, the Labour Party is now in opposition and the possibility of clashes with the Church over the laws proposed or enacted, or measures taken, are at present non-existent.

This notwithstanding the party has its own views, principles, agenda and policies, which it will try to implement once it is entrusted with the running of the country. One wonders at this stage whether in discussing issues related to the family the question of divorce was raised with the bishops.

Readers will remember that, notwithstanding the fact that divorce had not been on the party's electoral manifesto in 1996, Dr Sant had set up a commission to study how divorce could be introduced in Malta.

One hopes that meetings between the Church and the MLP (and other political parties for that matter) will become a regular feature of their relationship. Nothing but good can come out of such encounters.

So long, that is, as they are motivated by a genuine desire by the party to enter into a meaningful dialogue and not merely to serve as a PR exercise.