Christian relationship issues and divorce
The Maltese Parliament has now started debating the introduction of divorce legislation in Malta. Some MPs on both sides of the House have already made known their intention of voting against the divorce Bill or abstaining, on grounds of conscience, so...
The Maltese Parliament has now started debating the introduction of divorce legislation in Malta. Some MPs on both sides of the House have already made known their intention of voting against the divorce Bill or abstaining, on grounds of conscience, so they say.
However, it appears that going against the will of the majority of those same people who elected them to Parliament leaves no adverse effects on their moral viewpoint.
So let me be quite clear. If any MP elected from my district fails to vote in favour or simply abstains, s/he should not expect any preference from my part at the coming election.
With regard to conscience, it seems that few people know that, up to the fourth century AD, there was no such religious ceremony called “Christian marriage”. Christian marriages were celebrated the same way as pagan marriages. Marriage was a civil affair and the Church was not involed in any way.
From the fourth century onwards, priests were called in to bless the newly-wed and it took circa another 1,000 years until the Catholic Church established its jurisdiction to administer Christian marriages.
In the whole Bible there is no such commandment as “Thou shalt not dissolve marriages”. Then who puts marriages asunder? Believe me, no magistrate, no judge, no tribunal but the partners themselves, either individually or both of them, jointly or separately. It is the partners who contract marriage and it is they who wreck it.
Since marriage is also a civil affair, magistrates, judges and tribunals are there simply to put their official rubber stamps on a fait accompli. Separation, annulment and divorce are therefore different names of the same bitter pill. It is only the dosage and its after effects that may be different.
In my opinion, conciliation tribunals should be set up along with marriage tribunals or family courts.
Their duty should be only to help couples save their marriage. The services of conciliation tribunals should be free of charge.
If everything fails in the long run, then no one should be denied to recourse to divorce on those conditions as decided upon by the majority of people of Malta and Gozo.