Following the result of the divorce referendum I feel that the Church in Malta, especially its leadership, is still shell shocked. I believe the root of the prob-lem is the mindset with which the Church still operates to this very day.

This mindset is based on the assumption that everyone or almost everyone in Malta is a follower of the doctrine of Catholic Church and follows the principles of the Catholic faith. Time and time again this mindset is being proved to be flawed.

The first priority of the Church is to review all the compon-ents of its internal operations, especially its human resources. It must also assess its communications strategy.

The second thing the Church should focus on is its priorities. Currently, much of the Church’s clergy in Malta is heavily involved in the organisation of populist activities (such as processions and annual feasts) which really and truly have little effect on faith.

Finally, I strongly believe the Church in Malta should change its approach by focusing on a new way through which it interacts with society at large. The ultimate aim should be for the Church to be focused on having well formed followers rather than having a large number of followers.

Most of what I am advocating requires a strong, focused and intelligent leadership, which, unfortunately, is today very lacking. Resisting such change will mean that the Church remains operating with an unrealistic mindset which will lead to it becoming completely irrelevant.