A thing worth doing...

When Pope Benedict decided to nominate Mgr Prospero Grech a Cardinal, he was perhaps not immediately appreciative of the literal challenge he was presenting: not only did the 86-year-old have to persuade vintage knees to enable his body to lie prostrate, face down, in front of the altar, but he had the more gruelling task of cajoling them to allow him to get up again.

It appears Mgr Grech completed the task without too much difficulty and in doing so obtained a quick glimpse into the life of a senior Church prelate in today’s world: there will be times when you feel you are on the floor, and the trick is navigating the way back up again.

As Malta’s two incumbents will testify, with the great honour of Episcopal ordination comes enormous responsibility. And expectation. The number of church-goers may have dropped, but their demands have not. If anything they have intensified and therefore the challenges bishops face these days are different to those – which were no less fierce – 20, 30 or even 40 years ago.

Back then one of their main tasks was to surmount the political divisions among their congregations. Today they must contend with divisions in many spheres of life outside politics and a society that is more antagonistic towards the Church.

How to go about this is the major question. The Church has made its fair share of mistakes. It has practised poor public relations on a global level and, even locally, has at times come across as aloof and uncaring.

But there are many positive elements which are easily overlooked. The Church’s work in the missions is vital and yet receives scant publicity. And the priests who get their hands dirty in our communities, dealing with people’s dire social problems, are rarely, if ever, in the limelight.

The Church, and in particular its bishops who are its mouthpiece, must engage with the people to transmit the institution’s caring qualities, to publicise the good it does and to embrace criticism in a constructive manner. They should be looking for opportunities to exploit the media and all forms of modern communication, rather than at times too rapidly condemning them.

Despite being little known in his homeland, advanced in age and most certainly not a publicity seeker, Mgr Grech, an Augustinian friar, seems to have natural PR qualities.

Sense of humour is an underrated asset and an all too rare quality among prominent people in Malta, let alone senior members of the clergy. Yet Mgr Grech seems to have it in abundance – willingly joking about papal infallibility and his “retirement present”.

There are no doubt more serious reasons why the Pope bestowed this ‘gift’ on Mgr Grech, and to a certain extent on Malta. But the appointment throws up a more serious question too: When is the Pope going to appoint a considerably younger Maltese cardinal?

Malta has fine credentials in the Catholic world. It is a steady rock in the Mediterranean and still has a relatively devout flock as well as an abundance of clergymen, some of whom are highly capable. This should not be taken for granted.

While Mgr Grech’s appointment is more than welcome and in no small measure richly deserved, the time has come for the nation to have a cardinal who can play the role to the full (cardinals over 80 cannot vote for the next pope).

The late Bishop of Gozo, Nikol Cauchi, enjoyed corrupting an old saying and repeating that “a thing worth doing, is worth doing twice”. Pope Benedict could do a lot worse than taking that advice.