The Alleanza Nazzjonali Repubblikana (ANR) conveniently drags in the Church saying that the alliance follows Christian teachings and quotes excerpts where it suits it. It is interesting to note that the ANR's stand on multiculturalism goes directly against the Vatican's doctrine on the issue.

On its Website the ANR states: "Multiculturalism suppresses diversity because it imposes a globalised society without a definite identity... multiculturalism is harmful to culture because it is nothing but the promotion of alien traditions and values."

And what is the Vatican's doctrine on this matter?  The Holy See states that: "The migrant himself is a person who moves from one culture to another in most instances. Even internal migrants change geography and culture in moving from one part of their own country to another. But the unity of the human person is expressed in culture which is not destroyed by diversity. Just as the Trinity is able to maintain unity and diversity, so, too, cultures can maintain an overall unity even within areas that might be open to conflict."

The Holy Father's 1991 Migration Day message addresses this fact most directly. He says: "Migration always has two aspects, diversity and universality. The former comes from the meeting between diverse individuals and groups of people and involves inevitable tension, latent rejection and open polemics. The latter is constituted by the harmonious meeting of diverse social subjects who discover themselves in the patrimony that is common to every human being formed as it is by the values of humanity and fraternity. There is a mutual enrichment when diverse cultures come into contact."

The Vatican says: "Migrants, as humans, must be able to have the freedom to be themselves and create their own culture. If we were to apply this to the situation of migrants, a migrant also cannot do without culture. He or she often straddles two cultures and not only must maintain his or her own, but also acquire all that a new culture entails: language, customs, and all the accidentals but also the ability to gift himself in faith. Migrants become the purveyors of diversity which contributes to the ultimate unity of the human family. There can be no unity without diversity, for then what is there to unify?"

However, the Holy Father expresses his apprehension when he says: "Even now, sad to say, in different parts of the world we are witnessing with growing alarm the aggressive claims of some cultures against others. In the long run, this situation can end in disastrous tensions and conflicts. At the very least it can make more difficult the situation of those ethnic and cultural minorities living in a majority culture context which is different from their own and prone to hostile and racist ways of thinking and acting."

John Paul II, in his Migration Day Message 2002, said: "...the parish represents the space in which a true pedagogy of meeting with people of various religious convictions and cultures can be realised. In its various expressions, the parish community can become a training ground of hospitality, a place where an exchange of experiences and gifts takes place. This cannot but foster a tranquil life together, preventing the risk of tension with immigrants who bring other religious beliefs with themselves."

I am not one who does not expect Church reform where it is necessary, but to bring Christianity into the picture just to gather crowds when one's agenda goes contrary to doctrine is plainly deceitful.