Assertive, not aggressive

In the few weeks since his nomination (and the few days since his consecration) Archbishop Cremona has established a style of exercising his ministry which is very different from what we have been accustomed to for decades.

No one should be surprised at this. After all, Archbishop Mercieca had established a style which was very different from that of his predecessor, Archbishop Gonzi. This clearly shows that there is more than one way of being a bishop. Archbishop Cremona's style is more in line with his personality, and we dare say, more in line with the needs of Maltese society today.

One of the problems he will face is the attempt to introduce divorce in our country. Many predicted it would be a thorny problem. Mgr Cremona addressed this problem during several interviews he gave to the media in the past weeks.

Last Thursday, during Georg Sapiano's Doksa on Net TV, Mgr Cremona did much more than just express his opinion of how the Church should tackle the problem. He outlined a clear strategy and threw the ball into the court of political leaders.

The Church is against divorce, but if the majority wants it, the Church will adapt itself to that reality. Adaptation does not mean adoption of the mentality. The Church will state its position without embarking on crusades or interdictions. These, Mgr Cremona quite rightly says, are things of the past.

Gently prodded by the intelligent line of questioning adopted by Dr Sapiano, the Archbishop went one step further on the question of cohabitation. He exhorted politicians to do something about the issue. Rights and duties are established between people living together. Legislators should see to it that these are respected. That's their duty. Will our politicians shoulder this responsibility? In fairness to Bishop Mario Grech and to the Maltese Episcopal Conference in 1999, these bishops have already urged action to eliminate injustice.

Archbishop Cremona's line of thought is based on the theology of Benedict XVI. Mgr Cremona constantly quotes from paras 27 and 28 of the encyclical Deus caritas est. In view of its importance, we are reproducing para 28 in full (see box).

One has to emphasise that the Archbishop's words should not be interpreted as being soft on divorce. He was very clear about the Church's position and its validity even from a common good perspective. His positive means that the Church will be assertive without being aggressive.

This position should in no way discourage Catholics and others who believe that the introduction of divorce does not serve the common good. They have a right to form groups to lobby for their position. Such advocacy groups are legitimate and necessary in a pluralistic society. The existence of the FPTA (Federation of Parent-Teacher Associations of Church schools) in the Eighties is an example of such an advocacy group.

Doksa presented us with a very interesting scenario. The presenter and the other two lay participants are involved in politics. They also clearly manifested their truly Christian credentials. It is positive to note that people endorsing Christian principles are involved in politics. The programme also showed that there could be a legitimate plurality of choices as to whether divorce should be introduced. This does not depend on one's faith. As Christians we all think that divorce is not an option one should take. Its introduction or otherwise depends on one's analysis of the common good. Different people, even Christians, can have different perspectives on the subject. We believe, for example, that it is not the time to legalise it.

The Archbishop's attitude makes us hope that the discussion can develop in a mature way and without doing irreparable damage to the Christian community.

One final point. Archbishop Cremona has had an enormous amount of media exposure. We now humbly suggest that a short period of media "fasting" can give him time to better grasp internal issues and structures to prepare the Church to face its challenges.