Editorial

Many may rightly find it somewhat difficult to understand why Church organisations appear to be reluctant to enrol with the Voluntary Organisations Commissioner according to the 2007 Voluntary Organisations Act.

Voluntary organisations are not obliged to enrol under the law. Enrolment is an option the law gives to all NGOs. To be registered, an organisation must be established by a written instrument and for a lawful purpose, which can be a social reason or any other motive which is lawful. Moreover, the organisation needs to be non-profit-making, voluntary and independent of the state.

The Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations considers it beneficial for an organisation to enrol because such an NGO will as a result qualify for certain privileges. “If a voluntary organisation does not enrol, it cannot make public collections without the permission of the Commissioner of Police, it cannot receive grants or enter into cooperation contracts with the government of Malta and it will not be able to avail itself of the support of the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations or be a beneficiary of the positive policies which government entities are bound to provide in favour of enrolled voluntary organisations,” replies the NGOs Commissioner’s Office in response to the question on why should a voluntary organisation enrol.

The Archbishop’s Curia last year said, when questioned, it was having talks about the enrolment issue with the Office of the Prime Minister and the NGOs Commissioner’s legal adviser. When the matter, that is whether the Archdiocese had settled the issue, was brought up again recently, a spokesman replied the matter “is still not finalised” although there had been “further exchanges of proposals”. But then, to date, no information has been forthcoming for public consumption from the Archdiocese about the nature of its stand on the whole issue, what kind of proposals it has made to the civil authorities and why.

NGOs that brought themselves in line with the law are understandably far from happy that Church organisations are to date keeping back from doing the same instead of “setting an example”.

The NGOs Commissioner is not happy either. While mentioning that 30 per cent of direct government grants last year went to one major non-enrolled Church organisation and about 12.5 per cent were distributed to various other non-enrolled Church organisations, the latest NGOs Commissioner’s annual report laments this is not a situation “that can continue into 2010” and requires a quick resolution.

On its part, the government has adopted a very calm and correct approach. According to a spokesman, voluntary organisations are urged to enrol with the NGOs Commissioner but the government would not hinder their work until a final decision regarding their status was taken.

The Church in Malta has pioneered a long list of initiatives aimed at reaching out to those in need of human solidarity. It continues to give true witness to the concepts of service and solidarity. The people recognise and appreciate what the Church did and is doing for them and on their behalf. Their trust is evidenced by their invariably generous support to such Church projects. However, the law is there for one and all.

Archbishop Paul Cremona has said the Curia will be issuing a statement on the matter. In the circumstances, one hopes the Archdiocese’s reasons for taking the stand it opted for are truly sound and convincing and that a proper and permanent solution is found as early as possible.