In the summer heat, a heated debate rages about the challenges the Church in Malta is facing. That the Maltese Church has a problem of leadership can be seen by all bar those who don’t want to see. That the Church has been silenced is evident to all bar those who don’t want to hear. Many lay people believe that the Church has, even worse, silenced herself.

As a lay member of the Catholic Church in Malta, it has been clear to me for many years that the Church is going through challenging times. It can be felt, but like most things felt, it is difficult to measure. Statistics can help us, though, and they can show us a trend.

The last time the census of Sunday Mass attendance was held, in 2005, the headline figure was 53 per cent, a stark drop from 63 per cent in 1995 and 75 per cent in 1982. The headline figure includes the very young who attend at a near full rate and an estimate of the housebound elderly. A better figure is that of Maltese and Gozitans aged between 15 and 64, of whom 46 per cent attended Sunday Mass in 2005. That is, a minority.

The absolute percentage is less important than the trend. Sunday church attendance has been falling at a steady rate of one percentage point a year since 1982. Will we be much off the mark if we predict that in next year’s census, those aged 15 to 64 will be attending Sunday mass at a rate of around 36 per cent? That is, just over a third?

The trend is clear, but what is to be done? Many will have their very valid proposals and they should be most welcome. There needs to be a debate about the problems of the Church in Malta, and the debate raging now should go on in the cooler months too.

Let us not be misled by old mantras against the Church whenever she speaks, accusing her of taking the position of one political party or other

Debate will at least mean that the Church is speaking, even if perhaps not with one voice. What many faithful bemoan most is a voiceless, messageless, positionless, silent Church. Even if the faithful have now become a minority, the Church cannot accept to take part in the dem-ocracy of the cemeteries, where she is silenced or, even worse, accepts to be silenced.

And please, let us not be misled by old mantras against the Church whenever she speaks, accusing her of taking the position of one political party or other. We live in a liberal dem-ocracy where even the tiniestof minorities have every rightto speak and take positions that at some time or other will be positions of one political party or other.

The Church has experienced persecution for 2,000 years, both violent and subtle. But we need to hear the Church speak on the very many issues that are in fact moral issues as well.

We need to hear the Church speak about the environmental degradation we are witnessing all around us. This is a moral issue as well because, for the faithful, the environment is God’s creation and gift of which we are only stewards. Men and women of leadership in the Church need to speak out and not say that they shouldn’t speak because they will be perceived to be attacking the government of the day.

We need to hear the Church speak about poverty. A Church that is true to its spirit will always choose the option for the poor. The Catholic Church’s social teaching is, at once, moral, political and economic thought. So, if it is perceived to be entering the realm of politics and economics, is the Church barred from speaking or, even worse, will the Church in Malta bar herself from speaking?

The Church should say no to the silence of the cemeteries where some people, even from within the Church, want to relegate her. We want to hear the voice of the Church in Malta.

The Church is not just the hierarchy but all those who feel they can contribute in faith and action. Then, people of faith, and those who have lapsed, can flock to the moral leadership that is becoming so deeply lacking in our society.