Gozo Bishop stresses love for truth

People did not think enough these days and when independent thought was abandoned they risked absorbing what others fed them, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech warned.

"Thought is true progress. Intelligent persons have the ability so that, together with others, they discover the truth," he said, speaking during the Christ the King festivities held in Victoria on Sunday.

Mgr Grech said it would be a "grave failure" by the Church if it did not play its part in a "humane, holistic development of society", calling to mind the many broken families that needed the community to "listen, accompany and propose solutions in the light of the truth".

Truth was under attack these days, and Mgr Grech, quoting Italian philosopher MEP Gianni Vattimo, described this era as characterised by "weak thought", where absolute truth made way for relativism and subjective truths, making dialogue increasingly difficult.

In this light, the Bishop said, the Church had what Pope Benedict called "an apostolate of intellectual caritas", a love for wisdom, which everyone, not just professionals, teachers or philosophers, had to embrace.

"Without a love for truth neither the Samaritan nor the social aspects of the Church's service can succeed," he said.