One of the events that characterised the life of the Maltese Church and the country during 2010 was the Pope’s short visit last April.

It was a successful visit. But like papal visits to other countries its preparation was characterised by a number of controversies.

There was the banal controversy about the infamous Luqa monument; the run-of-the-mill controversy about the Papal visit’s costs and the more meaningful controversy about clerical child abuse.

The people warmly greeted the Pope and the visit was marked by a lot of popular enthusiasm. Even those sections of the media whose pre-visit reports were characterised by negative comments warmed up to the visit.

Those who made a lot of fuss about expenses were so caught up by the enthusiasm generated that they forgot to ask about them after the visit.

Naturally, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to gauge empirically the effect of such a visit. A lot depends on how much the words spoken by the Pope continue to inspire our actions. Besides words there were the actions of the Pope, one of them was more prophetic than the rest.

The Pope managed to turn one of the greatest threats to the visit i.e. allegations of child abuse by clergy, into one of the strengths of the visit.

His meeting with those alleging abuse was not a PR stunt. It was the loving act of a caring father who was deeply sorry for the hurt caused to those young men. His readiness to humble himself won their hearts and the hearts of millions around the world.

The structures set up by the Church in Malta to take care of such cases let us down badly and miserably though those responsible kept their positions as if nothing had happened.

The Pope fortunately came to our rescue.

The debate about the possible legalisation of divorce was a mainstay of 2010 and will be a mainstay of 2011. A draft law was presented to Parliament as a private member’s bill. There is now the second draft.

The pro-divorce lobby has been formed with representatives from the three political parties and chaired by a theolgy masters student. It is rumoured that the movement representing the other side of the coin will be launched in January.

The debate on whether divorce is a sin took up a lot of the Church’s energy until seven priests – myself included – issued a joint statement with the Archbishop’s approval, affirming the important role of conscience in such matters.

The greatest challenge the divorce debate presents to the Church is the possible clash between different models of being Church and of managing the Church’s relationship to society.

In my opinion, among the grass roots of the Church and in a number of important positions there is a strong conservative spirit and a nascent neo-clericalist movement. For them the Church is a monochrome picture, not a rainbow. This does not augur well for a balanced debate, especially since there is a strong “let’s push the Church in the sacristy” movement on the other side.

Archbishop Paul Cremona continued with his pastoral visits to parishes. I have heard conflicting reports about the way they are organised. One thing is certain though, the Archbishop is very warmly welcomed wherever he goes. Mgr Cremona is still the strongest weapon in the arsenal of the Church and its best asset. His charm results from his sincere concern for others.

Pope Benedict and Mgr Cremona stole the limelight in 2010. Their successors in 2011 will probably be more troublesome and controversial.

joseph.borg@um.edu.mt

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