Editorial

At the centre of the bishops’ Lenten pastoral letter lies – as expected in the light of the divorce debate and the approaching referendum – the delicate and complex institution of marriage.

It is a pastoral letter that reflects the Church’s acknowledgment that, in a cultural context marked by increasing individualism, hedonism and other ailments, human freedom, as it faces life’s difficulties, is prompted to make decisions that conflict with the indissolubility of the matrimonial bond.

At the same time, the document reflects the Church’s trust in the human beings’ capacity for recovery, convinced as the Church is that, with the help of God, human freedom is capable of the definitive and faithful gift of self, which makes possible the marriage of a man and woman as an indissoluble bond.

In this context, while recognising the fact that, in Maltese society, the culture of marriage and the family has changed, the bishops note Christians have the mission to build a new culture with respect to marriage and to strive to instill in it values inspired by the Word of God. Moreover, in an effort to help members of the Church understand better this responsibility, the bishops reiterate the Church’s teaching that, according to the plan of God, “an option which favours marriage and the family is an option in favour of mankind” adding that “marriage breakdown statistics show that, in reality, although couples undergo much suffering, children are those who suffer the most”.

The bishops refrain from directly addressing the divorce referendum issue, an omission quite conspicuous in the pastoral letter. Although the faithful expect direction from their spiritual leaders, this omission can be attributed to the fact that the question of the referendum has yet to be decided. As a survey commissioned by The Sunday Times clearly indicated, the success or otherwise of a move to introduce divorce legislation rests a lot on the question asked in the referendum. Once Parliament votes on the wording, the bishops can then address the faithful again to guide them.

That will be a very testing time for their spiritual leadership. It would be a vital moment for them to address, loud and clear, certain conscience-related doubts that continue to prevail in the divorce debate.

In their pastoral letter, the bishops state that the Christian must live his/her personal life within the community of the Church, “fully aware that s/he must answer” certain questions according to a responsibility “which we refer to as ‘conscience’”.

They also speak of the fundamental choices facing every Christian person: Do I believe and allow myself to be guided by the reasoning of God and his plan for Creation when He created man and woman in complete unity as “one body” or am I led by human logic which is detached from God’s plan, leading to the destruction of this unity as a result of divorce?

The pastoral letter further warns that “the reality experienced by other societies that opted for this human way of reasoning leads us to take a personal decision. We must discern whether a society in which there is divorce offers a better future than a society which has at its foundations stable marriages worth investing in”.

The bishops’ guidance to those who want to remain in full union with the Church on the upcoming referendum question would be crucial to the believer and the citizen, divided one against the other within the same individual. It will, however, still be one’s own free choice.