The Church and the Government have successfully concluded talks on amendments to the 1992 law on marriages so that the Church Tribunal would no longer be superior to the Civil Court on matters of marriage annulment, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening.

He was speaking on the TVM programme Dissett.

The issue had been raised by Dr Muscat himself when he made a courtesy call on the Bishops on March 23, a few days after the general election.

After that meeting he said:

“I will be writing formally to the Holy See to ask for meetings to discuss this, so that the civil courts will be supreme with regard to marriage laws.”  He said  that an effort would be made to reach an agreement that would be satisfactory to both the Church and the Government, providing for a clear “separation” between State and Church.

Archbishop Paul Cremona said at the time that the Church had shown it was available for such talks.

“Together we will see what is best for the Maltese population even with regards to civil marriage,” he said.

On Dissett this evening, Dr Muscat also said that the Opposition has not yet presented amendments it had said it would present to the Civil Unions Bill.