Protecting marriage and the family

Martin Scicluna wrote (August 31) that as the lead author of the report by The Today Public Policy Institute, For Worse, For Better: Re-Marriage After Legal Separation, he must tell readers that several priests have approached him over the last year to tell him that the debate, which their report has ignited, is on the right lines.

He has also been told that in part one of his report – In Praise Of Marriage – he stated that “…prevention of marital discord and breakdown should be the overriding objective of government policies”. So he recommended, and I quote:

1. The establishment of a full-time Commissioner for the Family.

2. That tax benefit and social security benefit systems provide positive incentives for couples to get married and to stay married.

3. Preparations for marriage and the responsibilities of family life should be inculcated from an early stage, especially in school, as part of personal social development (PSD) in the national curriculum.

4. The provision of state mediation, counselling and reconciliation services should be greatly expanded to nip in the bud marriages that are getting into difficulties.

5. The state should promote pro-marriage and pro-family media campaigns.

“The state,” he wrote, “represented by the government of the day, has a direct responsibility – the ultimate responsibility – for ensuring that the family is protected even when marriages fail; indeed, especially when marriages fail.”

Considering the above, why does Mr Scicluna, as a prominent author on this subject, write only on the civil dissolution of marriages? Instead of relishing a perceived division on divorce among the local clergy, he should expand on the above points in the press on this very important topic. That will be a great contribution to Maltese society.