The subject of my next commentary in The Sunday Times of Malta is Archbishop Paul Cremona and his resignation which hit us like a bolt out of the blue. I will comment without repeating here what I will write there.

Archbishop Cremona’s doctorate is about Pope John XIII encyclical letter Pacem in Terris. This is no coincidence. Pope John was known as ‘il Papa buono’; similarly our Archbishop can be called ‘il vescovo buono.’

I wrote about Archbishop Cremona in many blogs and commentaries always describing him, as he really is, a man of the people. His name is etched in the hearts of many Maltese, a good number of then whose religious practice was tepid at best if not totally dormant. Those who worked close to him describe him as a perfect gentleman.

Besides praising him on most occasions there were also times when I criticised him in some of my writings. As a true gentleman he recognised that my critical comments were always well intentioned and they did not affect in any negative way our relationship.

As a good priest he tried to spiritualise the criticism he received trying to discern whether God was conveying to him any particular message through such critical comments.

Archbishop Cremona loved people and was at home with them much more than he was at home with administration and structures. In fact, truth be said, he was never really at home with administration and structures. Consequently important decisions were postponed and structures not reformed. Unfortunately his ill-health did not help at all.

I started this comment by comparing Archbishop Cremona with John XIII. I can conclude by comparing him with Pope Emeritus Benedict. The greatness of Benedict was also shown by the courage he showed when he took the decision to resign. Many had said that a Pope should not resign. As soon as Benedict noticed that due to his ill health he could not perform the ministry of the papacy to the best of his abilities he resigned. Archbishop Cremona showed his love and dedication to the Church not only by serving her faithfully but by deciding to resign when he felt the time had come to do so.

Archbishop Cremona will now have the time he needs to do what he always wanted to do, that is, serve and help people without carrying the onerous weight of managing Church structures.