Christian ideals and the Church’s role

In the item entitled Mourning, Commitments Keep Leaders Away From Some Victory Day Events, which appeared yesterday, it was reported that during the homily at the solemn Mass on Victory Day on Wednesday Archbishop Paul Cremona “said that, while it proposed Christian ideals, providing practical solutions was not in the Church’s remit”.

The Curia complained yesterday that because only the first two sentences of his speech were reported, the Archbishop’s message was “skewed”. It said Mgr Cremona continued thus:

“The Church proposes Christian ideals. It is not within her competence to provide practical solutions. She (the Church) proposes these solutions through its members. An example of this may be found in the person of three famous statesmen – Schumann, Adenauer, De Gasperi – who dedicated their efforts to bring unity within Europe following World War II.

“I urge Christians to shoulder their personal responsibility within their respective areas to find creative ways of disseminating the values which they embrace. They are further encouraged to direct their efforts towards achieving the ideals as transmitted to us by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI before leaving our island, ‘unity, solidarity and mutual respect stand at the basis of your social and political life’.”