A closed mind and an enlightened one (2)

Saying that the interview Mgr Charles Vella gave to The Sunday Times (August 16) is confusing would be an understatement.

At the beginning of the interview he praises the late Archbishop Michael Gonzi for his vision and stand in defending the principles of Maltese Christianity (as if there are different brands) and the values of the Maltese family during the 1960s.

One wonders whether family values, or any other fundamental values for that matter, change from week to week or from country to country. Loyalty, honesty, honouring one's vows, etc. are timeless values that should always be promoted and defended.

Mgr Vella goes on to make the remarkable statement that he is not scared of divorce, whatever that means, and adds that in Italy, marriages did not disintegrate following divorce legislation and that divorce figures, after an initial rise, levelled out.

A later contradictory statement explains why: "In Milan nowadays, there are more civil marriages than religious marriages and more cohabiting couples than families. While the institution of marriage is facing a crisis, the Maltese family is not."

So if divorce, along with other insidious factors such as the trivialisation of human relationships, promiscuity, pornography, disloyalty, anti-family legislation, etc., led to fewer people giving any value to marriage, is it surprising that marriage in Milan and elsewhere in Europe is in crisis?

It should not escape Mgr Vella that once there are fewer and fewer marriages to break up, the need for divorce drops proportionately. No wonder divorce rates level out. Is this a positive development for society? He also insinuates that the government should not heed the counsel of the Church. Presumably, according to him, a government should jettison the upholding of marriage vows freely given, whether civilly or not, to prove its independence from the Church or the advice of any public spirited person or grouping.

Mgr Vella's inference that our hierarchy lacks leadership is disloyal and unworthy of a Catholic, let alone a Catholic priest.

He seems to have a grudge against the archbishop's advisers and arrogantly declares that they should either be silent or change their views to coincide with his own.

Perhaps, the rarified circle of Milanese high society has clouded Mgr Vella's judgment.