Lack of a work-life balance was causing problems in the lives of families and couples, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech has warned.

“The competitive market and the aim to reap maximum profit are leading to not only the sacrifice of worker’s rights but also those of the family,” he told a seminar for couples.

This year’s pastoral plan for the Gozo diocese was to help the Christian community better appreciate Sunday Mass in the hope that Sunday would be given back its real meaning: the day of the lord, man, the family and the community, Mgr Grech said.

This was in continuity with what Pope Benedict XVI wrote to the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, announcing the subject of the 2012 world meeting for families in Milan: the family, work and free time.

In a homily during Mass marking the 40th anniversary of the Armed Forces of Malta, Mgr Grech praised the army for “defending lives”, pointing out that, sometimes, this meant taking decisions that might not please everybody. He was convinced the army and the police had honest members who wanted to defend life.

However, the facts that drugs were readily available in Malta and the sea was still an open grave for those involved in clandestine trafficking meant those supposed to be guarding the island’s shores were napping.