The Church’s judicial vicar had no choice but to ask family lawyer and pro-divorce activist Deborah Schembri to stop practising in the ecclesiastical tribunal, according to three prominent clergymen.

By choosing to get a warrant to practise in the Church tribunal, Dr Schembri took on an obligation to publically uphold marriage according to the pro-vicar Anton Gouder and theologian Charló Camilleri concurred.

When Dr Schembri chose to publicly speak in favour of divorce she went against that obligation and could no longer be part of the tribunal, they said.

“Having a lawyer who is defending the marriage sacrament and does not believe in it, does not make much sense. A lawyer in the tribunal not only defends clients but also marriage, according to the teachings of the Church,” Mgr Gouder said.

Theologian René Camilleri said the judicial vicar had acted according to the tribunal’s procedures and had been consistent with previous decisions.

“Whether the procedure is good can be discussed. However, it is there and has the approval of the State,” he said.

Chamber of Advocates’ president Reuben Balzan agreed with this line of reasoning but stressed that people, including lawyers, had a right to voice their views.

On Wednesday Dr Schembri, the secretary of Yes to Divorce group, revealed that about a month ago she was stopped from practising in the Church courts because of her stand which went against the Church’s teaching on marital indissolubility.

Judicial vicar Arthur Said Pullicino said she had “automatically excluded herself” from practising in the tribunal by speaking publicly in favour of divorce.

Fr Charló Camilleri pointed out that a lawyer working in the tribunal becomes a member of the pastoral ministry and is, therefore, warranted to publicly uphold Church views on marriage.

“As a holder of such a warrant, Dr Schembri should know this... She has to make a choice. It’s a contradiction that she is working in an institution that is trying to safeguard marriage and upholds certain values and then publically says the contrary,” he said. He explained that the issue was the fact that Dr Schembri had made her views public. The Church respected people’s personal conscience.

Last year, the Church endorsed a position paper on divorce which did not close the door on Catholics voting for divorce as long as they did so on the basis of a “formed and informed conscience”.

Was this not a contradiction with Mgr Said Pullicino’s decision to stop Dr Schembri from voicing her views?

Mgr Gouder disagreed and pointed out that the position paper was about the vote in the upcoming divorce referendum while in this case the decision was about the requisites of working in the tribunal.

Fr René Camilleri said the fact remained that all lawyers knew that the Church’s legal framework, through the tribunal, established requirements that were accepted by the State.

In 1995 the Marriage Act was amended following an agreement between the Church and government that granted several privileges to the Catholic Church. Among them, decisions taken by the Church tribunal in annulment cases would be considered to be valid civilly.

Because of the civil implications of the ecclesiastical tribunal’s decisions, Dr Schembri said the judicial vicar’s decision went against the right of her clients to the lawyer of their choice.

With this in mind, she added, civil rights should also be embraced by the Church but, right now, the Church was breaking such rules.

This argument was backed by Dr Balzan, who said: “Every citizen has a right to choose his or her own lawyer and, as a right, that should not be limited in any way.”

Reacting on this point Mgr Gouder said: “It you are going through an annulment from the sacrament of marriage you have the right to choose a lawyer who believes in the sacrament of marriage. If not, go to the civil courts. You either believe or you don’t.”

Labour Party spokesman on equality Helena Dalli said that while she understood that the tribunal had its rules, a person should not be discriminated against on the basis on their beliefs.

Dr Schembri was promoting civil divorce while accepting that Church marriage is indissoluble, Dr Dalli said.