Malta needs to fight invasion against the family - British judge

Malta needs to fight the invasion against the family with the same initiative and energy that it had fought the Turks during the Great Siege, a British judge told a national conference on the family this morning.

Mr Justice Sir Paul Coleridge told the conference, organised by Projett Impenn on the occasion of the World Day of the Family,

Sir Paul spoke about the fact that almost every child in the public care or youth justice systems in England came from a broken family.

Even drug addicts, binge drinkers and those who did not behave at schools were mostly from broken families.

While not every broken family produced dysfunctional children, almost every dysfunctional child was the product of a broken or a badly dysfunctional family, he said.

This, Sir Paul said, was a mighty problem which could not be ignored or brushed aside.

The removal of the stigma of illegitimate birth, the taboo of living together and the stigma attached to divorce, he said, contributed to the current situation. The disappearance of these stigmas led to the current instability and lack of longevity in relationships.

He said that Malta needed to fight the invasion against the family with the same initiative and energy that it had fought the Turks during the Great Siege.

Madame Justice Anna Felice said that last year there were 1,200 requests for mediation, 500 of which went on to start separation procedures. There were 100 separations and another 1,500 sought provisional measures pending proceedings.

Gozo bishop Mario Grech, who closed the conference, said that one had to look not at just at the symptoms of marriage breakdown but also at the causes.

Symptoms, he said, were just an effect of an existential problem that was more deep and profound.

One had to determine the cause of the current state of marriage and give space to thinkers who were giving valid contributions. Dialogue was also important.

This should be based on the thoughts of others to ensure that everything possible was done to safeguard natural marriage.

Every vision, choice and action related to the family had to depart from thought and it would be wise to invest in education for those who wanted to safeguard the family, he said.