Monday, 8th February 2010 - 12:38CET
Bishop makes divorce, abortion link
The Bishop of Gozo has linked divorce with abortion, telling a pro-life activity yesterday that research showed that there was a link between unstable families and abortion.
"Where the family is united, pregnancy is likely to be accepted and celebrated, but where the family is broken, such as in the case of divorced parents, there is a higher probability that life is refused and threatened," Mgr Mario Grech said.
Speaking in Victoria, Mgr Grech said it was important that Maltese society did not lose its conscience in favour of life. Even if there was only one abortion, society had a duty to speak out in favour of life.
Among the things which society could do to deter abortion was better education on true love and appreciation of sexuality. Education on the absolute value of life was urgent, Mgr Grech said.
After speaking on the need for stable families, Mgr Grech said society also needed to fight poverty. It sometimes happened, he said, that when unplanned pregnancy took place, the couple might consider abortion because of a lack of financial means to raise the child. When there was poverty, man because miserly with life.
Mgr Grech also underlined the importance of counselling services. particularly to women who might be considering abortion and when the child was handicapped.
Mgr Grech thanked Dar Guzeppa Debono which, for the past 25 years, has been a means how the Church in Gozo helped single mothers and strengthened the mentality against abortion and in favour of life.
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Comments
We are not dolts dear bishop.
human rights? they dnt exist here. this country has become selfish and greedy, we are becoming animals!
i still dnu why divorce shouldnt be introduced! u think its btr for parents to still be "married" when they hate each other? whatever 'smart***" thinks like that, seriously needs a reality check! it will do more harm for the child.. trust me
Perhaps what you are seeing and objecting to are advances in human rights and specifically women’s reproductive rights.
War is both morally questionable and objectionable, such as abortion is to some people, and takes thousands if not millions of innocent lives, but yet that does not preclude war from being used when necessary and certainly no Church has yet made War against their teaching or that of God. In fact, in some cases the Church has itself instigated “Holy Wars” and Crusades. Can anyone else see the inherent contradictions in the Church’s teachings vis-a-vis abortion and the slaughter of (non-fetal) human beings?
One of the many known facts about divorce and UFOs ;-)
X'ghandhom x'jaqsmu flimkien id-divorzju mal-abort? Ghaliex qieghed ihallat l-ilma man-nar? U proprju issa hass il-bzonn li jikkummenta?
Se naghmel zewg punti fil-qosor:
1. Kien ikun aktar kredibli li kieku kkwota r-ricerka flok qal dak li gieh f'mohhu.
2. Nispera li l-Isqof t'Ghawdex m'ghandux f'mohhu li johodna lura ghal zmien l-Isqof Gonzi. Se nkun car. Eccellenza, int obbligat li taghti l-opinjoni tal-Knisja u allura jekk il-Knisja hija kontra d-divorzju (kif fil-fatt hi), ghandek kull dritt li tikkwota dak it-taghlim IMMA JEKK JOGHGBOK tohloqx firda billi ddahhal feles biex minghalik thawwad il-biegha! Thallatx bil-konsegwenza li tibghat lil pajjizna lura meta l-Knisja u l-Istat ma kinux jaraw ghajn m'ghajn.
Jekk joghgbok, aghmel id-doveri tieghek ahjar u tkun aktar rispettat! La ghandna bzonn indottrinazzjoni (ghax permezz tat-taghlim u l-informazzjoni, ahna kapaci nahsbu) u wisq anqas ghandna bzonn stqarrijiet mahsuba biex jirrelataw ma' xi diskors politiku!
Having seen the anguish both cause, neither is an easy option, but neither is it a matter for dogma.
To link Divorce and abortion is an outrage and an affront to all but the blindly indoctrinated.
For those who profess themselves as lay people without any connection I invite them to reflect a little bit what ideology they brainwashed by. By the way man is a religious being and in his instinct he tries to take refuge in some ideology or a religion created by himself. If one proclaims himself atheist, well most probably he has that small idol in his life that he cannot live without, called money. Well not to give credit to myself but I have been around all Europe in these past 7 years and I have seen many suffering, and I have faced a lot of problems but i have experienced that in Jesus Christ life is possible, and it’s not surviving but true living. One last point regards to divorce, recently in the English parliament they were trying to pass a law which forbids parent to divorce if they had children in the range of 8 to 14 years, because of the traumas that the children were suffering. Think Well people before you find yourself a victim of what you thought it was going to be your salvation.
There is only one truth from where life comes, and that is Christ who accepting to die because of our sins without resisting to the evil that he received, he saved others, and because he is God and onnipotent he gave this possiblity even to man, to receive life when they are suffering out of love. Love! The most abused word, on earth at the moment, what a contradiction, people want to separate or get divorced because out of love for another chance. Ridiculous Love means to Die, it has no other meaning. In Greek Agape. Today’s conception of love is Philia and Eros, love with a condition. True love Agape means being a complete donation to the other, till you die for him, it means even leaving oneself being killed. This is the Christian concept of love. Prevention is better than cure right, the solution is to prepare marriages well, through people that have an experience of a true Christian life and that they have experienced that what the gospel say is true, and what the Church teaching is true.
All ye people are scandalized by suffering. Ye are all lacking of the true key of interpreting your life, which is Christ, who redeemed man from his condition of suffering. Suffering is not a curse is only a means of realizing that man is not created to live by himself. The problem today is that we think that we can live without faith, how stupid.... Please look at the situations in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, can't we learn from the mistakes of the others, do we have still to take on the burden of the consequences of our mistakes, without learning from the others? Haven't ever heard of the high rate of suicides of 12 year old children because of divorced parents? You all think, being civilized mean to conform with the others. The truth is that every one has created his own truth, we are the fruit of a society that establishes its own conclusions on the empiric world. Man has lost direction, with the relativistic mentality we are surrounded by.
i know many ppl who are pro divorce n anti abortion. i think this should have NOTHING to do with religion. a religion should be personal and NOT made to control everyone.
i believe in divorce, i think it should be introduced - why not?
malta is FULL of hard headed ppl and as soon as they decide to open their minds and learn then we might move forward in life.. til then we ll stay in the 60s..
First comes divorce, then comes abortion in "special circumstances", then comes abortion on demand.
Proof?
Portugal, Spain, Italy and lately IRELAND who has already moved to step two.
Why risk to live the rest of my life in hell on earth with a woman...when I can enjoy my mother's milky love all my life?
Richard Galea.
The tranquil waters aimed at, which required set stokes devised through past experience by the Church have been agitated by members of the Church itself, and by social circumstances, and new political institutions think that they would become more popular,
if they advertise and approve
More than 75% of marriages end up in Divorce and if the abortion rate was as high, then what a wonderful world this would be. No more god-ape-monkeys thinking they are the pinnacle of creation and then maybe other animals and indeed this whole planet would have a fighting chance. Regrettably bishop, there is no such link and no such luck.
Hawn min qed jbaghti biex f'Malta tal-lum biex tghaddi ta' min iwebbes rasu u ma jaghmilx ricerka sew f'Malta kollha (mhux sezzjoni partikolari biss li jiltaqghu maghha fil-knejjes) Dan meta nies bhal Mgr Mario Grech filwaqt li jipriedka dak li skond hu huwa jidirlu hu gust, ghandu suppost jaghder aktar minn li jikkundanna.
Ma nistenniex li l-Knisja taprova d-Divorzju izda l-Knisja missa thalli l-pajjiz jimplimenta bil-kwiet u maturita liginijiet li hemm bzonn. Dan filwaqt li billi nkunu iebsa u burokratici ghal snin twal fl-annullamenti zgur mhux qed naghmlu xi gid fost l-Insara jew favur iz-zwieg.
Konxju li annullamenti mhux Divozju izda vera wkoll li f'dawn l-ahhar snin, l-burokrazija f'kawzi ta' annullamenti zdiedet hafna forsi ghax xi hadt jahseb li qed jaghmel xi gid. Bhekk hafna qed jaqtaw qalbhom qabel sahansitra jibdew il-proceduri.
Those who deny Christ not only criticise you but also try to ridicule. That's what they did to Jesus after all.
The LORD IS WITH YOU. MAY HE HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOCIETY.
I am amazed that abortion has been so linked. Does that mean that a divorcee is an abortionist no way and I cannot see how the Church can accuse those who have suffered enough to be further accused of such an atrocious act. How much more stress and pain can the Church in Malta in flict on its parishioners.
Common sense tells me that a pregnancy out of wedlock is more vulnerable for an abortion. A marriage between two divorcees provides a much stronger bond and stability than cohabitation.
Why is it so hard for the Bishop to come out and say SEX EDUCATION, if that is what he means? What does divorce have to do with abortion? My niece told me something that makes sense the other day. Min ihawwad il-borma ikun jaf xfija. The person stirring the pot knows what's in it. Often times most divorced people find happiness somewhere else, maybe even starting a new family. Divorce can be a good thing. And as far as abortion, it is still a womans right to choose.
Reference my earlier comment - I was referring to the fact that their are two very clear subjects which would both appear to have strong support i.e., for divorce, against abortion.
From comments over the years, the anti abortion lobby (most of which I agree with although I do believe that their should be exceptions in extreme cases but definitely not on demand) has very strong support whilst the divorce lobby (which I believe should be on demand) is one that is currently likely to eventually be brought into law.
Linking the two together is just an underhand way of trying to delay or stop the divorce lobby.
Gone are the days when the faithful were impressed by sermons from the pulpit.
Does he believe people are still living in days of illiteracy, and have to accept what he and his ilk try to let loose upon us?
Going (only) by the carried story it seems that he is trying to foist off his convictions under guise of "research". The illuminated cleric should quote chapter and verse, and let his flock judge if this "research" is credible and holds water.
Having said that, it is obvious that Mgr Grech is terrified by the open interest shown in favour of divorce. He has turned to clutching to straws. He will eventually have to also settle for the demand for abortion.
Althouth is looks and feels otherwise, Malta is not ruled by the Curia.
Keep on illuminating us with your reseach and experiece. The Holy Spirit gave you wisdom and courage to face all odds and with humility and Charity expose the teaching of Christ to people of good will.
Pope John Paul II once told married who divorced and priest who left priesthood, Yor are unworthy of being trusted as you could not honour the promise you made to the Church and to your wife/husband.
That said, scientific research is always coupled with citations from reliable sources, something I don't see here.
Speaking of which, if it were te Church itself to do such research (or fund it), I definitely wouldn't be surprised about the results.
Actually you can turn his argument on it's head:
Where a woman is seperated and therefore unable to marry the Father of her unborn child, she is more likely to terminate the pregnancy.
This sort of scare mongering tactic is offensive to anyone with a basic level of intelligence and education.
What has divorce got to do with this? Is the bishop implying divorce CAUSES unstable famlies? People divorce AFTER a marriage is broken not before. Apart from the obvious fact that not only married people have kids, making divorce completely irrelevant in this issue
Ase you sure there is very strong support for Abortion? I very much doubt it, expecially here in Malta.
As for Divorce, yes, we are already living a big lie by allowing numerous civil seperations and a good number of church separations.......as long as we dont call it divorce! I thought the bishop was more intelligent that this; to try linking the two without producing actual facts will only make his argument weaker. we need to introduce Divorce, even if for very restricted cases, but we cannot continue to have couples living in limbo and even worse, their children not knowing what the real relationship of their parents is!
What is sad is that the government are so easily influenced by what the church says. We need a strong government which basis its laws on common sense and practicality and not on pleasing the bishop and trying to grab votes.
Divorce should be legalised without delay and abortion should also be legalized.
I fail to understand how the Bishop came up with this link between divorce and abortion, which reports has he quoted in his talk? I hope that the Church is capable of keeping its position on such issues without resorting to subterfuges and political alliances, just to keep control of the people, similar to what happened in the past over different issues.
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Now having said that and with all due respect to Bishop Grech, we might as well `link` abortion to many other instances and or circumstances people find themselves in.. Like `unwanted` children in ANY type of ANY other marriage, and harsh threatening of Parents on mothers to be... What`s for sure is that by being divorced one gets another chance of BUILDING another family under one`s beleives, moral obligations and local legal conditions just the same...
Sinjuri... This issue requires very serious thinking and discussions.... So let us ALL be sensible on this subject and stop scaring people.
Yes, these couples need love. And education, not just now or a couple of months before marriage, but early in life. So could we all please cut the fanatical, political and religious talk and push to start the walk.
Who has the right to terminate the life of a unborn child because of such condition ? I take it further and ask : Are we paving the the way for children who are "Not Handicapped" ? What comes to mind here, people, If I may ask !!!
What about status of children born out of wedlock as we know it , do the have the same status within the law as children of divorced and re-married parents?
Next it might be that people who don't go to church on sundays are more likely to be gambling addicts...... can't you see the link there ???? ;O)
Please define 'planned' - if use of condoms and contraceptive are not allowed in Church's teaching.
The over-simplification of these matters is unacceptable in a modern secular democracy, surely?
I'm definately not gonna believe a bishop just because he said so.
They want to see what they want to see!!
We have all to have another chance to be happy.
Divorce is a sign of democracy and of civilization.
"Where the family is united, pregnancy is likely to be accepted and celebrated, but where the family is broken, such as in the case of divorced parents, there is a higher probability that life is refused and threatened," Mgr Mario Grech said. (I Grech Paola)
Can the Bishop show facts of what this link looks like?! How many divorced persons abroad carried an abortion?
In Malta even though we don't have divorce, people are still separating - at a rate equivalent to abroad. The issue of separation is already here. He is trying to stop divorce being discussed, by creating fictitious links