Procreation: Not everything that can be done in labs is morally correct - Bishop

Ethelbert Schembri

Mar 13th 2009, 07:29

Even in the curia, not everything that WAS, IS and that WILL be done is not morally correct !!

It is all a personal perspective, for instance personally I will never accept paedophilia .

Carima Achokwu Magdi

Mar 12th 2009, 23:05

I don't agree with most of the comments. I am not Catholic but the Bishop ( who for me is just an ordinary man like all the others) makes sense in what he said. Abortion is like murder. It is the killing of a human being that is still developing. As soon as the baby is concieved he is a living being.
Now by accepting abortion we would be opening doors for more children out of wedlock and for these mothers not to be responsible for their actions. If you don't want to be burnt don't play with fire. Science itself proved that once a woman commits abortion she has higher risks for depression or health problems. Science is made by people, the word of God ( being Catholic, Muslim or Jew) was there for ages and will always be.
God knows better than all of us and in God I trust.

R Gauci

Mar 12th 2009, 22:25

Why the Church’s protection of human life is generating such disconfort? Even if there is a civil legislation and is against the well being of the human person as a whole, the Christian community has the right and duty to share its principles of life. Then if one wants to conform oneself to what other societies did for the sole reason to be like them, that is irrational and makes no sense.

J Farrugia

Mar 12th 2009, 21:10

@ James Grima - ghandek il-wicc tqabbel il-knisja maltija mal-ligi tax-Xarja. Mhux li kien tinsab f'zi pajjiz gharbi ha naraw rasek fejn tispicca kieku ma titlobs 9 darbiet kuljum u thares lejn mecca? Hemm irrid nara l-arja tieghek .. imma ghandek ragun ghax ir-religjon kattolika ma taccettax dan il-fundamentalizmu. Ghalhekk ghandna disgrazzjatament maltin li saru musulmani, u ghandna maltin li hlief dagha b'ASlla u bil-madonna ma tismaghhom jidghu. Mhux ta bxejn illi dawk l-immigranti illegali qabel telqu minn Malta hammrulna wiccna meta qalu fuq TVM li kull ma tghalmu f'Malta kien kif tidghi b'Alla. U tigi int kontx trab u rmid, u tghidilna li r-religjon kattolika hija aghar mix-xarja. Ma tistax tkun iktar baxx minn hekk

J Farrugia

Mar 12th 2009, 21:06

@ James Grima, thanks for confirming that you are just one of those people hell bent in trying to destroy the catholic church. Off course you will never succeed. Before you many tried that game but to no avail, after 2000+ years the church is still there with all its good and its bad since it is made of persons like you and me. Only you will not be here. agnostic ?! anti religions? what are these. politically correct words? modern day stupidities? The bishops have the good of the people at heart as well as the right to preach what is good and what is not good. Parading yourself baring all is certainly not a good thing aint it? And you have to make the right choices. If you want to turn left its your funeral. Crowd control. When did the church ever exercise crowd control? Money pullers, leaving houses to the church? Have we arrived at the basest point of wanting to control our parents what to do with THEIR property? As for Victor Fiorini, he's in no position to preach to us. He's just an atheist/anarchist or whatever.

M.Mifsud

Mar 12th 2009, 21:03

I believe that people should be given freedom of choice and those whose religion forbids them from availing themselves of these practices should stop and ask themselves what is more important for them, having kids or being a fervent follower.

martin saliba

Mar 12th 2009, 20:43

If i can't have assistance to die no problem. I'll just put a gun to my head.

Ethelbert Schembri

Mar 12th 2009, 20:38

Even in the curia, not everything that WAS, IS and that WILL be done is not morally correct !!

It is all a personal perspective, for instance personally I will never accept paedophilia .

Gerry Cowie

Mar 12th 2009, 20:08

How sad that anything said by the Chuch is automatically out of date and out of touch! How sad that those who stand up for human life from conception to natural death are automatically classed as being in the middle ages!

Respect for life is something that develops and remains, not something which allows fiddling around with life and ending it whether in the womb or in later life.

And let us not insult those of no religious persuasion or of other beliefs who also respect human life. This is not simply a church issue. It concerns all people.

It is disingenuous to say that opposing these things is moving backwards. Surely it is moving forward to respect human life.

And it is very puerile to keep referring back to what the church did in the past. The Church has moved on. People always dig out the same old chestnuts in an attempt to discredit the Church.

And some of the cases quoted by secularists are without foundation or proof of where they come from nor indeed proof of their validity or otherwise. These people hope that others will be blinded by what they say and accept it without question!

James Grima

Mar 12th 2009, 15:04

"Why are the autorities and the church hell bent on keeping the country in the dark ages . Almost everywhere in the western world has moved on with the times , but not Malta ." Good point Mr. Mifsud.

Until the State stops asking for permission from the clergy we will be forever stuck in the so-called era of the 'Dark Ages'. To be honest we are nothing different from a Sharia-run state like Saudi Arabia, the only difference being that the Muslims are 100% muslims 24/7 unlike our so-called Catholic population which starts swearing in the name of god as soon as they leave church.

K Ellul

Mar 12th 2009, 15:03

It seems the Gozo Bishop wants to push our country back to the Middle Ages with his (and the Church's) outdated mentality!

Bishop Mario Grech is hitting the headlines more than our politicians lately... he should have a go at politics :)

Reuben Gauci

Mar 12th 2009, 15:02

How unfortunate is our debate! Instead of reasoning and arguing on principles that respect life, particularly human life, some are lost in mocking and stuck with old labels. Life is to be respected, independant of who says that.

Muscat.Pat

Mar 12th 2009, 14:49

@Sylvana Debono
I remember a time when still-born and embryos were not given a "christian" burial; they were buried in a corner with NO prayers or ritual. Now that is what I call fundamentalists, even though now, those fundamentalist have become pro-life and what have you! Again, the Catholic Church in New York ( Read yesterdays New York Times) is lobbying hard not to let through a new legislation barring time-lapsed law for child victims who suffered sexual abuse from priests. The Sephardic jews joined the Catholic Church in this lobbying lest the Churches become bankrupt! Now, I am Catholic, and I wish the Church to come clean on these problems. Individual bad priests and past- burial descrimination should not stop GOOD Catholics from following the Church, but "fundamental politics" should not be the norm or a dogma as it is NOW. The Church should stop its black versus white mentality without looking at the grey areas. The grey areas make us human; the white and the black make us saints or devils and both of these reside in the stratosphere!

Chris Mifsud

Mar 12th 2009, 14:31

It seems that certain people want to push Malta back 50 or 100 years recently .

In the past weeks we have had everything from the Board of Classification telling full grown adults what they may or may not see , we've had the church complain and insist that people who dressed in a certain way at the Nadur carnival should be arrested .

Now we have this aswell .

Why are the autorities and the church hell bent on keeping the country in the dark ages . Almost everywhere in the western world has moved on with the times , but not Malta .

C Attard

Mar 12th 2009, 14:07

This guy is a 'godsend' to atheists....

Paul Duff

Mar 12th 2009, 14:01

Before attacking every word spoken by the church, why don't you stop for a moment and think. If you take the time to listen to what our Bishops have to say maybe you will learn something in your own life.

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways" 1 Corinthians 13:11

The least you can do is respect other people's thought rather then throwing mud at them.

Lisa Galea

Mar 12th 2009, 13:28

Interesting comment "But science could also lead to the conception of human life out of wedlock." Has Bishop Mario Grech noticed that procreation out of wedlock without the assistance of science is rampant and that The Church happily marries these couples when they decide to "regulate" their status.

tony abela

Mar 12th 2009, 13:22

I hope that all these 'too-bright and wise" people who do not agree with the Roman Catholic Church teaching and believes are not the first people who get married in the Roman Catholic Church to show off with the expensive flower arrangements, the best vocal singer, etc. and hope they are not the same people who pester Parish priest to baptise and administer sacraments to their children. I hope they do not mind if they are buried outside church properties and unconsegrated grounds. They have every right to decide not to agree with the church teachings but then they have no right to join the band wagon when it is convenient to them or as they are afraid from social stigma.

Well done Bishop Mario Grech keep preaching the truth as it is only this that might save our immoral and commercialised society

martin portelli

Mar 12th 2009, 12:59

'Furthermore, there was no guarantee that what was permitted by Civil Law was ethically correct either' .............'There were, in Maltese society, some people who only approved only what was needed now, without consideration of whether what was considered as being useful was ethically and legally possible'

There is no guarantee that what is permitted by the ecclesiastical authorities is ethically correct either. I admit, I sincerely admire the bishop's zeal for the Faith, and his active role in guiding the faithful, but surely the glaring dissonance stands out. Can his excellency discuss the issue of paedophilia/abuse involving Gozitan /Maltese clergy as perpetrators and its handling by the local ecclesiastical authorities? Can he honestly think that such actions will not have grave moral consequences in the years to come? Is that not a sign of chaos and relativism within too? Truthfully alot of the flock is perplexed ? It might require a courageous walk down a steeper path to restore balance perhaps.

James Grima

Mar 12th 2009, 12:51

@ J Farrugia.

I'd like to clear some points with Mr. Farrugia. First of all im not an athiest but rather agnostic. Secondly I am not anti-Catholic but rather anti-religion movements, due to the fact that religious movements are nothing but hierarchical business-like movements, which are controlled by people who are motivated by crowd-control and money.

Patrick bellia

Mar 12th 2009, 12:47

I would like to know if it was morally correct that when a person was dying tell her/him that if he/she will not let a house, field, etc on her will to the church will not go to heaven, WAS THAT MORALLY CORRECT, Dont make us laugh. Our country remained the same before doing something first we need the approval of the church. but before someone can say whats morally correct to others i think that first one can see what they have not correct in them.

Ronald Cauchi

Mar 12th 2009, 12:42

The Bishops are entitled to think what they like. They are also entitled to say what they like! What they need to remember is that while their words carry weight with the members of their church, they hold absolutely no authority on the rest of us and theyre not entitled to pontificate to those of us who do not belong to their church and that frankly what they say matters as much as what any Tom Dick or Harry has to say!

Sylvana DeBono

Mar 12th 2009, 12:35

It is so sad to see the comments which seek to portray the Church as a close minded and medieval structure completely miss the point that life is of supreme importtance. The pseudo liberalt or liberated philosophy of pro-choice effectivly denies any choice to embryos. Life is a gift - just ask those on terminal illnesses if every day is not a precious one. Of course we cannot ask an aborted foetus' opinion. What is amazing is that we are seeing the development of a pro-environment lobby (which is good) combined with anti-life positions as in these comments: is human life not worth protecting as ODZ?

J Chircop

Mar 12th 2009, 12:19

You guys are all against euthanasia no matter what, however the Pope John Paul refused medical treatment when he knew it was his time to go. Why is that? Is that morally correct? Oh BTW the Pope can never be wrong. A Dogma I guess.

C Vella

Mar 12th 2009, 12:10

The Church is entitled to its doctrines and beliefs. However, some people are also entitled to their own.. It's sad that the Church and State in Malta are so inter-related to this day

J Farrugia

Mar 12th 2009, 12:10

James Grima dont show us your anti catholic or base feelings. 'Zomm l-ordni biex l-ordni zzomm lilek' used to say Dun Gorg Preca. But it seems that puppies want to have it their ways, enjoying life irrespective of what's good or bad for them and their neighbours. OK do it, but then don't lament that your life hits rock bottom because that's the only result one gets from living an utopian life. Truth hurts and no one today wants to hear it. So the targets from liberals and atheists: The bishops of Malta and Gozo. We have already seen that game being played.

Andrew Gatt

Mar 12th 2009, 12:08

Not every ODZ extension of cemetaries is morally correct.
Not every cover-up of child abuse is morally correct.
Not every witch-hunt of carnival revellers is morally correct.
Not every member of the clergy involving themselves in politics is morally correct.

Or ethically correct either.

James Grima

Mar 12th 2009, 11:56

Close-minded beliefs like these only worked in the Medieval era. We are now in 2009 and have different ideologies, better yet modern ideologies. Saying that euthanasia is murder and could never be morally accepted, leads me to believe that you have no remorse watching people suffer and letting them die a painful and slow death, then again it was the church that tortured and killed thousands if not millions of non-believers/heretics in the Middle Ages, so I'm really not surprised by your twisted mentality of accepted morals.