Politicians: Stand up and be counted

What makes our Cath­olic politicians afraid to speak out on divorce?

In his address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, delivered on September 12, 1960, John F. Kennedy had this to say about the role he would play if elected as the first Catholic American President:

“I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one Church is treated as an act against all...

“I do not speak for my Church on public matters; and the Church does not speak for me. Whatever issue may come before me as President, if I should be elected, on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject, I will make a decision in accordance with these views – in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be in the national interest and without regard to outside religious pressure or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise”.

Readers and the Maltese population at large would be interested to know at this stage the views of our Catholic politicians regarding President Kennedy’s speech and how they would vote should they be elected. President Kennedy was Catholic. Would our Catholic politicians regard his speech as a betrayal of his Catholic faith? Is it anathema to their ears? What parts of his speech would they wholeheartedly endorse? What other parts would they vigorously object to? These are some of the questions our Catholic politicians should be bombarded with by the media.

What do our Catholic politicians regard as paramount in their system of beliefs and values? Rome or their informed conscience? Their party leader or their constituents? The common good or their own political self-interest? What holds them back from publicly expressing responsible dissent within their own party or in the Church?

No Catholic politician would want to look at himself/herself as a reed shaking in the wind. Unfortunately, this is how the public perceives them at this point in time. They are in danger of isolation, of arousing suspicion and of attracting intolerance if they were to take the road less travelled, meaning the road of responsible dissent in the name of the common good.

A considerable number of those with a broken marriage behind them, and who wish to remarry, fall into the category of marginalised persons in our society. They and their children are the victims of abuse and injustice by their ex-spouses and by the state. This situation calls for a legislative remedy and no Catholic politician can renounce his or her responsibility to make courageous decisions based on an informed conscience and in the interest of the common good. Turning a deaf ear to the plight of these marginalised people is simply immoral. The sensitive issue of divorce calls for a political consensus. It has been raised by a number of correspondents in the media over the years. Regrettably, most of our Catholic politicians do not seem to have the gall to stand up for what they truly believe. They are afraid to tell us who they are and what they truly stand for.

For many of us brought up to believe in a doctrine of absolute obedience to all human authority and, particularly, to Church authority, the notion of responsible dissent and of following one’s informed conscience might seem hard to accept. In fact, responsible dissent based on an informed conscience has a very solid basis in Catholic tradition, especially in the thought and pastoral practice of St Paul, Malta’s patron saint.

None of our bishops, out of holy obedience to Rome, would dare to follow in the footsteps of Paul who, regarding a completely different issue from divorce, opposed Peter to his face “since he was manifestly wrong” (Galatians:2:11).

By the way, I am Catholic and by the grace of God will die one.