‘Couples need help when contracting civil marriage’

The pro-divorce movement yesterday urged the state to prepare couples contracting marriage in the same way the Cana Movement was guiding those who chose to get married in Church.

“In the absence of a government system, Cana has filled this void,” Michael Falzon, from the pro-divorce movement, said.

Speaking outside the Cana headquarters in Floriana yesterday, the yes camp said one fourth of marriages in the first quarter of this year were civil marriages. This meant there were a number of people who could not opt for the religious preparation service.

The movement stressed the divorce debate only applied to the civil aspect of marriages.

“In this country, there is a law that has been in place since 1975 that separates the Church from the state in terms of marriages,” Deborah Schembri, who heads the pro-divorce movement, pointed out.

“There are a number of people who do not yet realise that when we speak about divorce we are speaking about it in a civil ambience only. This is important so that voters realise divorce will not be changing Church marriages,” Dr Schembri said.

The yes movement again called for a clear distinction between the Church and state on the divorce issue.

“A politician cannot legislate for Catholics alone,” Dr Schembri said, pointing out that, although Malta was recognised as a Catholic country, there were minorities that had to be respected.

“To make a Catholic argument about divorce when you’re a legislator is not acceptable,” she insisted.

Speaking on the same theme, the Catholic pro-divorce group, Kattoliċi Iva Għax Dritt, said the referendum was about accepting or denying that the state had a right to impose a particular morality on the whole population irrespective of whether its citizens or not were Catholic.

“Though we, as Catholics, may be a million times against divorce, never once can we be in favour of a state imposing the will, beliefs and practices of one particular creed, be it Catholic or not, on citizens who do not share that faith,” the group said. For this reason, it was “deceitful” for other Catholics to present the referendum issue in that way and, in reality, it was a Catholic’s duty to vote in favour of divorce, it continued.

With the referendum just a week away and the divorce discussion in full swing, another pro-group, Stand Up, pointed out that marriage breakdown in Malta increased by 160 per cent between 1995 and 2005.

The Le b’Rispett Lejn il-Ġejjieni had used similar statistics from Ireland, where the group noted the country had a 100-per-cent increase in marriage breakdown after divorce was introduced, Stand Up said.

However, the anti-divorce group chose to omit the comparison with Malta where the growth in marriage breakdowns was faster in spite of the absence of divorce legislation, Stand Up said.