The perceptive leader of The Times on the Church’s Challenges, Difficulties And Priorities (August 15) made a couple of important points in stating that “The key to any Church mission in the kind of new realities facing Maltese society, especially regarding new generations, is to inspire confidence and trust… At the same time, the Church must know how to listen and ensure that its communications network is capable of rising to the occasion. It must also be prepared to assume full responsibilities for any shortcomings.”

It is a pity that The Times did not go on to develop these thoughts more fully as the Maltese Church’s ability to recover its credibility and rightful position as a continuing force for good in our society depends on them. In the wake of the debacle over divorce and the horrors of the clerical abuse scandal, there were two steps which it was vital for the Archbishop to take in order to set the Church on the long path to renaissance.

He has taken the first, and perhaps the most difficult, one. He has confronted bravely, honestly and with due humility the issue of clerical abuse in the Maltese Church. That he should have done so years ago is now beside the point. The conspiracy of silence, involving both Church and state, has finally been broken.

The Archbishop has taken the initiative – not without prodding from the Vatican – to bring some justice and closure to the long-suffering victims of appalling abuse. It shows that the Archbishop is prepared to face huge challenges of this nature in future without obfuscation or delay. The primacy of the criminal law over canonical law has been clearly recognised. Provided that he also urgently addresses the issue of adequate financial compensation for the victims, this could prove a turning point – a fresh start – for his Church.

But if the Archbishop is to demonstrate that the renaissance of the Maltese Church is firmly under way, there is one more step he needs to take. As distance in time from the divorce referendum increases, it becomes ever more apparent that the Church’s campaign was ill-judged, ill-advised and ill-led. Those responsible for this misjudgement should be held to account.

Reacting to the momentous result of the May 28 referendum in favour of the introduction of divorce legislation, Mgr Anton Gouder, the Church’s Pro Vicar General (one of the key architects of the Church’s referendum campaign), expressed surprise at the result. Answering a range of questions covering Church-state relations in Malta, the overbearing behaviour of some priests during the referendum campaign and the Bishops’ joint apology to the faithful just before the polls closed, there was a sense of denial and little acknowledgement from this most senior prelate that the Maltese Church was going to have to change if it were not to become an irrelevance.

The second crucial step the Archbishop now needs to take, therefore, is to implement a cull of those monsignors who have been advising him – many of whom were dealing with the clerical abuse accusations well before Archbishop Paul Cremona came on the scene – and who have failed him by misadvising him so badly.

There is an urgent need for new brooms in the Curia, untainted by recent events. It is imperative to recruit a younger, more enlightened generation to run the Archbishop’s secretariat and the Church’s administration. No leader can operate successfully if he is constantly hobbled by poor advice. Unless the Archbishop steels himself to do this, he will find himself unable to undertake the radical changes now required to put the events of the last few months behind him.

A start has been made in finally tackling the crimes of clerical abuse.

If further necessary steps to restructure the Church’s leadership and administration are handled with courage and boldness, it should lead to a new chapter being opened between the Maltese Church and its dispirited flock and a renaissance in its own standing.