As was to be expected, the stand taken by Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna that it is immoral for parliamentarians to legislate in favour of gay unions being given the equal status of marriage was greeted with a firestorm of protests by the well-established anti-Catholic lobby.
Meanwhile, Jesuit provincial Fr Paul Pace SJ, in a recent contribution to the press, decries the deafening silence of academics and professionals in the crucial debate that one expects on such a delicate issue.
Worse still, one is dismayed by the unbelievable silence of Catholic parliamentarians. Do we have any out there? Surely, there must be some in all our political parties. Not one of them publicly supported the unequivocal statement of Mgr Scicluna.
St John’s Co-Cathedral is always packed to the gills for official functions where all our bigwigs, with all their finery, parade Catholic credentials. Yet Catholic voters wonder, and with good reason, who of them really represent a Christian philosophy of life in the public square? Where is their voice on such a hot issue?
Whenever any reference is made to Christianity or religion we are slammed with the hackneyed phrase of ‘separation between Church and State’. This is the lame excuse that opens the floodgates for any form of unethical political decisions that impact on the institution of the family and the sustainable welfare of society.
Gone are the days when a political party professed Christian-based beliefs that underpinned their political programmes. With the demise of the threat of extreme socialism and communism, political ideology has morphed into a philosophy of gratifying any claim to rights that translates into votes on election day.
In such a muddle, Catholic politicians can freely militate in almost any political grouping and make their mark and influence party policy.
It bears reminding that our political development has been marred by the fact that Christian politicians in the Labour Party have been cowed into submission. Dom Mintoff’s excesses would have been held in check had they had the courage to stand up to him. Sadly, we have learned nothing from the past, and Joseph Muscat runs the same risks of rushing headlong into wrong-headed decisions because no one seems prepared to apply brakes and question certain negative far-reaching decisions.
In this depressing scenario, we await with bated breath, the contribution of Catholic politicians
Sadly, the silence of Christian politicians is also a reality in the Nationalist Party. Where do they stand when confronting those within the party who try to jettison its Christian credentials? The party has to recognise its failings and avoid the lures of portraying itself as a so-called modern political movement by changing principles to suit the mood of the times.
Sound politics demand the right ideals, the upright and moral means of achieving these ideals and also the political skill and acumen to realise these aims within the constraints of one’s particular situation.
Needless to say, Christian politicians have to undergo the arduous task of having to present their arguments in a manner that is competent, informed and understandable. In a pluralistic society, people have to be convinced, and not coerced into accepting policies, laws and programmes that are of benefit to society and the family. But this is no excuse for politicians who claim to be Christian to fudge the issues, or worse still, evade them.
Unfortunately, it is also a fact that political debate in Malta is crippled by the intense partisan rivalry that suffocates any rational and objective approach to an argument. Anyone who bothers to follow comments on a political dispute will be dismayed by the puerile level of many contributors.
The Nationalists have been in government almost uninterruptedly for 25 years, so they are easily lampooned for raising issues now rather than when they had all the opportunity to address them more effectively when in power.
On the other hand, we have a young, new leader of the Labour Party, flushed with an overwhelming electoral victory, who is apparently unable to avoid the temptation to steamroll his agenda, irrespective of whether it respects any modicum of honourable fair play.
Meanwhile, in this depressing scenario, we await with bated breath, the contribution of Catholic politicians in the current debate on prospective legislation that will undermine the traditional values that uphold the institution of the family.
klausvb@gmail.com