Many Maltese are distancing themselves from the Church's moral teachings while feeling they may remain Catholics.

The Church has to carry out a soul-searching exercise to understand why people voted for divorce, the Church's Pro-Vicar Mgr Anton Gouder, has told The Times.

He also insisted that the statement issued by the bishops on Saturday was a call for unity to work in favour of the family.

Mgr Gouder said the statemen was issued because the bishops felt the result was "no longer the aim" but a "point of departure".

The bishops expressed regret if anyone felt upset by the words or actions of Church members. They also said that not enough importance had been given investing in marriage and the family.

Replying to questions by e-mail, Mgr Gouder said the Church had to perform "a good soul-searching exercise" in the wake of the referendum.

He said more Maltese were distancing themselves from the Church's moral teachings while at the same time feeling they may remain Catholics.

He highlighted "confusion about how a good Catholic" was expected to act in the referendum and lamented that not everyone adhered to the points listed in a statement signed by several priests and theologians last year about voting according to conscience.

The referendum campaign, he added, also showed that the religious knowledge of many Catholics left much to be desired.

Mgr Gouder admitted that he was surprised by the margin of the Yes victory.

"We had a number of polls throughout the last weeks. Sometimes they swayed with a slight advantage towards the Yes vote and sometimes towards the No. But the greatest unknown was always the high percentage of those classified as undecided. These have proved to be those who abstained and I think that in this lies my surprise."

Asked if he felt that the referendum result represented a yearning for greater separation between state and Church, Mgr Gouder said that it is the official teaching of the Church (as found in the documents of the Second Vatican Council) that both are autonomous in their own right.

But for the benefit of the people (who might also be members of the Church) they should cooperate together.

"I sincerely cannot see where the Church is overstepping this position. I am certain this will never hinder the Church from proclaiming and applying the teaching of the gospel whether this teaching is accepted by the majority of the citizens or not."

He believed there was more than one reason why the people voted Yes.

"I can mention the fact that a greater number of Maltese are distancing themselves from the Church's teaching on moral matters while at the same time feel they may remain Catholics.

"Secondly, there was a certain amount of confusion in the air about how a good Catholic is expected to act. I was personally involved in this controversy and I was also one of the priests who issued the statement about voting according to one's proper conscience.

"Yet, not everyone adhered to all the points mentioned in that statement. Up to the last minute, the Yes side felt free to say it was no sin – even quoting that it has the support of priests. The No side did not exercise such freedom and if priests dared to speak about divorce or the gospel, they had to bear the suffering of being manipulated.

"Thirdly, this campaign has also shown that the religious knowledge and experience of many Catholics leave much to be desired.

"The Church in Malta needs to perform a good soul-searching exercise with regard to these three reasons," Mgr Gouder said.

He added that apart from this, sections of the media did their best to attack the Church on several levels besides merely the divorce arguments and created an atmosphere of anti-clericalism based also on lies and exaggerations.

Asked whether it was right for some priests to torment people by withholding absolution or not administering Holy Communion to people who said they would vote Yes, Mgr Gouder replied:

"I have already explained this several times. We know of only one case of a priest withholding Holy Communion. He apologised the day after. Media reports claimed there were other cases. Our communications officer asked these reporters to supply other names. Not even one single case was mentioned.

"With regard to the sacrament of reconciliation, it is much more difficult, because the priest cannot even say that a particular person has come to him for confession, let alone disclose what was said between them.

"I have explained this to the media and it was reported that I am shielding myself behind the confessional secret. In these cases, one can approach the priest only if there is circumstantial evidence."

Was the bishops' apology on Saturday too little, too late when many Catholics had endured spiritual pain throughout the divorce campaign because of the message diffused by some priests that voting Yes was a sin?

Mgr Gouder said the bishops' statement was a call to unite forces to work concretely in favour of the family and marriage.

They issued the statement prior to the publication of the referendum results because, as they stated, the results are no longer the aim, but rather they become the point of departure. Some media quarters opted to ignore all this and twist this statement in accordance with their whims.