Dating back to 1905 with words by Fred Murray and music by George Everard, the title of this odd Dixie song came to mind when the news of the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Lugo was announced. The duchess is none other than the Infanta Elena, eldest daughter of the King of Spain, whose main title, since the 15th century, has been His Most Catholic Majesty. That, I suppose, explains why Queen Sofia did not accompany her husband on his state visit to Malta.
This divorce, the first in the Borbon y Borbon y Borbon family tree, must have distressed the king no end. In fact, the famous Chavez rebuke a couple of years ago was attributed to the stress His Majesty was under at the time due to this sad development. The Spanish Bourbons have put up with a lot politically, yet, as in every other family, a marriage break-up is the cause of great upset. I would have thought that, coming at the time it did, our Leader of the Opposition got off lightly when he kept the king waiting and arrived late for the state dinner. This is something not to be repeated under any circumstances, Joseph Muscat, neither now nor if and when you are Prime Minister. Punctuality is the courtesy of kings!
When the Infanta married Jaime de Marichalar in 1995 it was, like any another marriage, one made in heaven. Although the Spanish royals do not have the media profile of their British cousins, the monarchy in Spain, understated as it is, is also steeped in tradition.
Juan Carlos was solely responsible for the suppression of a military coup in 1975 that would have put paid to Spain ever becoming the modern democracy it is today. For that alone this tall and handsome warrior monarch, the product of a long line of royal intermarriage, earned the deep and lasting respect not only of the Spaniards themselves but of the world at large. This was a man who had not merely inherited a throne by right of succession but earned it too. That he was the Caudillo's choice was neither here nor there, and that he became king in his father's lifetime was debatable. But somehow, the direct line of Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Catolicos, has survived into the 21st century as a relevant symbol unifying what are still called The Spains.
It is understood that an annulment is to follow this divorce. So where does it leave Europe's and the world's premier Catholic family in the eyes of the Church? Had the Infanta Elena been a normal person like you and me, we would be barred from the sacraments till the time the annulment was granted; if ever. But the Church has always been famous for making across-the- board judgments and then creating notable exceptions. The most famous one in this context was the divorce granted to Henri IV of France from his first wife Marguerite, Dumas's famous Margot, to marry the Pope's niece. This was the same Pope, Clement VII de Medici, who refused to grant Henry VIII a divorce from yet another Infanta, this time the daughter of Los Reyes Catolicos, and lost England to Protestantism in the process.
Although you may argue that all this took place in the 16th century, nothing much has changed in the 21st century with regard to the rich and famous, as in the Ecclesiastical excess of the Luciano Pavarotti funeral. An eye closes easily as long as the PR is good.
A couple of Sundays ago I sat through the bishops' pastoral letter for Lent. In it, but in a roundabout way that I sometimes find quite mind-boggling, was a strong indication that the Maltese Church does want Malta to separate from the Church and become a secular state and not a theocracy that Arthur Galea Salomone last week called confessional neutrality. In today's world one must perforce be a good Christian because one truly, firmly and sincerely believes that it is the way to salvation and not because it is at best the religion of convenience or the done thing.
Still less should one be Catholic because it's the state religion. This is why I agree with many of Fr Mark Montebello's opinions and sentiments. When too much importance is given to the outward signs of inward grace, not the sacraments themselves, of course, but the visuals, that same grace may disappear and we would not even notice.
We give far too much importance to form and use Christian symbols like talismans or lucky charms. Crucifixes are synonymous with Christianity, but should we regard this icon in the context of the cross versus the crescent because of what is happening in the world today then we would be betraying the Christian message. We cannot expect the Church to confront Islam and its medieval excesses in Europe. The Church can only preach tolerance and foster a deeper rapport and understanding by actively promoting ecumenism in the same way as the late Pope John Paul II did in Assisi so many times. It is only through leading by example that the Universal Church can help Islam to evolve into a religion of peace and tolerance.
kzt@onvol.net