The Cana Movement founder yesterday urged the Church to talk in a language laymen understand if it wants to drive home its message, while maintaining that the introduction of divorce would not ruin families with strong Christian values.
Mgr Charles Vella criticised the Church for persisting in using “complicated” methods to preach against the introduction of divorce in the run-up to the May 28 referendum.
The outspoken 83-year-old, who launched the marriage preparation courses through the Cana Movement nearly 60 years ago, believes there are “shades of grey” that still need to emerge from the divorce debate.
Speaking to The Sunday Times yesterday before returning to Milan where he is based, Mgr Vella insisted that if divorce were to be introduced “it doesn’t mean it’s going to ruin the Maltese Christian family and traditions.
“There will be the option. Maltese families are strong and those families which are strong in their Christian values will remain so even if divorce is introduced,” he said.
He also disagrees with clergymen who equate divorce with sin, and insists the Church must do more to get its message across.
Mgr Vella’s comments are set to once again ruffle feathers in the Maltese Church two years after he controversially told The Sunday Times in an interview that the introduction of divorce did not scare him, provided marriages were built on “rock and not sand”.
He had said then that while divorce was perceived as a menace to the stability of marriage, it did not mean it would wreck them. He is still of that opinion today.
But what seemed to irk him most is a “certain atmosphere of silence” within the Church.
He said: “I do not want the Church to start any crusades but it should come out clearly on certain issues.
“The Church should do more to form people’s consciences.”
Mgr Vella cited as an example Gozo Bishop Mario Grech, whose messages, he said, did get across, since he delivered his message strongly and stirred reactions.
But he criticised the recent pastoral letter issued by the Archbishop Paul Cremona and Mgr Grech on divorce, which was almost entirely focused on the need to preserve the traditional family.
“The letter was about the logic and grammar of God. But who understood this? The Church needs to (simplify) its language for lay people to understand, and in this way it will be able to communicate much better and help people form their consciences,” he said.
The Cana founder said the Church needed to give people the three simple truths: “marriage, instituted by God; Christ, what God has put together let no one put asunder; and the sacrament of marriage with love and procreation.
“There is no need to bombard people with theories and a lot of arguments. The three simple truths are enough,” he said.